The Evil Dead (1981)
First up is the original interpretation of the character from the 1981 horror sleeper-hit The Evil Dead. Here Ash is a mild-mannered, dorky, soft-spoken coward thrust into one of the worst nightmares of his life. There isn't actually much to his character in the original movie as he's not even the one who does the killing proper. Ash in this movie "kills" a single person, his possessed girlfriend. He happens to survive through absolutely sheer dumb luck and a stroke of genius at the last second... or does he? It's arguably the character at his most vulnerable as a victim.
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
This version of Ash is a clear transitionary period between the soft-spoken dork of the first movie and the absolute one-liner spitting bad-ass from Army of Darkness. Here his deliriousness is upped to incredible level. Ash in Evil Dead 2 is traumatized, beaten to hell, tired, and just wants to go home. He undergoes a lot of needed character development in this one as well as his sanity slips further. He's a bit more of a confident jerk in this one, but mostly out of necessity and survival. His quick thinking and improvisational skills also have somewhat of a showing here in the movie as well. When dealing with the other survivors in the movie, he uses his knowledge of the Deadites to try and help them, coming off as callous and cold at times in service to survival. This is Ash where he is the least in control.
Army of Darkness (1990)
Finally we have the one-liner spitting, ultra-confident, super-sleazy lovable bad-ass that is Army of Darkness Ash. It's arguably his most iconic portrayal of the character and the one most identify with when it comes to the movies themselves. Here he has lost most pretentions of outright cowardice or trauma. By this point, Ash has likely begun to repress the trauma and grown into the giant jerk-ass that he becomes in the show. His sanity is likely also gone for the most part and his newfound dickish persona is a way of keeping the little bit he has left from going as well. His improvisational skills are well showcased here as he develops a robotic hand from a knight's set of armor, and creates gunpowder thanks to a chemistry book. His cowardice from the first movie however is replaced by ungrateful selfishness and self-aggrandization, likely due to knowing he can really only save himself in the end. While it's his most beloved character, it could be said that it's not his most interesting character. This is Ash at his most confident.
With that, we have the three versions of Ash from the trilogy. Which is your favorite, and which in your opinion is the most interesting? Let us know and let the debate begin!
First up is the original interpretation of the character from the 1981 horror sleeper-hit The Evil Dead. Here Ash is a mild-mannered, dorky, soft-spoken coward thrust into one of the worst nightmares of his life. There isn't actually much to his character in the original movie as he's not even the one who does the killing proper. Ash in this movie "kills" a single person, his possessed girlfriend. He happens to survive through absolutely sheer dumb luck and a stroke of genius at the last second... or does he? It's arguably the character at his most vulnerable as a victim.
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
This version of Ash is a clear transitionary period between the soft-spoken dork of the first movie and the absolute one-liner spitting bad-ass from Army of Darkness. Here his deliriousness is upped to incredible level. Ash in Evil Dead 2 is traumatized, beaten to hell, tired, and just wants to go home. He undergoes a lot of needed character development in this one as well as his sanity slips further. He's a bit more of a confident jerk in this one, but mostly out of necessity and survival. His quick thinking and improvisational skills also have somewhat of a showing here in the movie as well. When dealing with the other survivors in the movie, he uses his knowledge of the Deadites to try and help them, coming off as callous and cold at times in service to survival. This is Ash where he is the least in control.
Army of Darkness (1990)
Finally we have the one-liner spitting, ultra-confident, super-sleazy lovable bad-ass that is Army of Darkness Ash. It's arguably his most iconic portrayal of the character and the one most identify with when it comes to the movies themselves. Here he has lost most pretentions of outright cowardice or trauma. By this point, Ash has likely begun to repress the trauma and grown into the giant jerk-ass that he becomes in the show. His sanity is likely also gone for the most part and his newfound dickish persona is a way of keeping the little bit he has left from going as well. His improvisational skills are well showcased here as he develops a robotic hand from a knight's set of armor, and creates gunpowder thanks to a chemistry book. His cowardice from the first movie however is replaced by ungrateful selfishness and self-aggrandization, likely due to knowing he can really only save himself in the end. While it's his most beloved character, it could be said that it's not his most interesting character. This is Ash at his most confident.
With that, we have the three versions of Ash from the trilogy. Which is your favorite, and which in your opinion is the most interesting? Let us know and let the debate begin!
