Origin
Ash is an S-Mart employee who’s well known for sweet talking the ladies. Ash and his girlfriend Linda took a trip to what was thought to be abandoned cabin in the woods. But when Ash played the recorded incantation from the recorder he unleashed an ancient evil. The Evil possessed his girlfriend forcing him to decapitate her then finish her off with a chainsaw.
Next the evil went after him. It got in to his hand which forced him to cut off his hand with the chainsaw. Well-equipped with a sawed off double barrel shotgun he calls his “Boom stick,”, a chainsaw that he can attach to the stump where his hand used to be, and his new mechanical hand strong enough to crush a steel cup.
Creation
Ash is originally from Sami Raimi’s Evil Dead movie Series.
Major Story Arcs
ARMY OF DARKNESS: ASHES 2 ASHES
Ashes 2 Ashes
This 4-part comic series follows immediately after Army of Darkness. The audience finds out that Ash once more spoke the words wrong and was this time sent back in time just a few hours early which may grant him the ability to stop everything from happening. When he gets to the cabin it’s already too late, but he must battle the current time Ash in order to go back in time. It is then that he once more finds the Necronomicon and learns that he must bring it back to where it was built and destroy it in a ring of fire. At the temple, Ash has an epic battle against Evil Ash and the mummies inside the temple. King Arthur and his men come to help Ash destroy the army of the dead. After the battle, Ash forgets to throw the book into the ring of fire.
Army of Darkness :Shop till you Drop Dead
Ash tries to return to a normal life as clerk at his old job at S-mart, but the Deadites have other plans. They infest the store and force Ash and his co workers to do unspeakable things. He finally corners the head Deadite, Mr. Smart Ash’s Boss, but is throw in to a time portal like before, only this time its the year 2501. He tries the help this future over run with Deadites, but makes things worse. Once he gets sent back to his own time he is force to kill his possessed friends and his boss. But he able to destroy the Necronomicon for good, or so he thinks.
Army Of Darkness Vs. The Re-Animator
Army Of Darkness Vs. The Re-Animator
Ash finds himself in Arkham Asylum because his action at S-mart and because of his rants about the Deadites. He finds himself under the “care” of Dr. Herbert West, who has made a deal with the Deadites to keep Ash under lock and key. Ash is saved from the Deadites by Duece, a janitor who idolizes Ash and Sugarbaby, a nurse with magic powers. While trying to escape the Asylum Ash is pulled into a Mirror verse and battles a insect version of himself. He escapes only to face a Tattoo-Ash and Evil-Mirror-Ash. Once he defeats them he comes face to to face with Dr. West who is in fact the Re-animator. After stopping him he stops the end of the world by stopping Yog Sothoth. This last feat destories Arkham, but Ash and Sugarbaby are able to escape.
Old School
Ash goes back to the cabin and after cutting what ties the Deadites to his world, he learns that the only way to save Shelia’s soul is to destroy the many forms that the Deadites have taken over the years.
Ash vs Dracula
While Ash is still trying to save Sheila’s soul from the Deadites, him and Sugarbaby go to New York City and are attacked by Dracula and his minions. Sugarbaby is captured and Ash has to go to the past and get Eva, the one woman who can beat Dracula. Ash eventually saves Sugarbaby but he must give her part of his own soul, and now he is much weaker to Deadite attacks.
Death of Ashley J Williams
It is revealed that Ash was made the chosen one just after his birth. In 1969 in Michigan an infant was born, one touched by God to destroy the forces of evil. This was not Ash but when Evil came for the chosen baby Ash angered the messager of evil so much that he marked Ash with the mark of chaos that was meant for the chosen one. This is why evil follows Ash throughout his whole life.
Later as Ash is trying to take down the Evil cult it is also revealed that whenever a chosen one is killed a new one takes it’s place. Ash learns that Moses was a choosen one and also Elvis. The Deadites decide instead of killing then send him to anther dimenstion ruled by the Marvel Zombies.
Army Of Darkness Vs. Darkman
In Army of Darkness Vs. Darkman, Ash teams up with Darkman against an awakened Army of Evil led by Robert Durant, Darkman’s arch-enemy. Darkmans friend Julie reads from the Necronomicon and awakens the evil and becomes possessed by the queen of the Deadites
Marvel Zombies Vs Army of Darkness
Ash finds himself in the Marvel Zombie Universe. Mistaking the Marvel Zombies for Deadites, he attempts to locate the Necronomicon. After saving Dazzler from a Zombie Winter Soldier, he is taken to the sanctum sanctorum as she believes Doctor Strange may know the location of the evil book. Another talking book tells them that the book is in Latveria. Once in Doom’s Castle, Ash locates the Necronomicon which says that it has nothing to do with the Zombie plague. Ash strikes a deal with the book to summon the deadites to buy them both some time to escape. With the help of Doctor Doom, Ash escapes to another universe leaving the Necronomicon behind to be used as Toilet paper for Zombie Hulk. The story ends with Ash finding himself in a reality populated by Marvel Werewolves.
Kiss Vs Army Of Darkness
Due to the fact that Kiss gets kidnapped in 1979, Ash never gets to see them in concert and never meets Linda and never becomes the bad-ass he is destined to be. He still loses his hand, in a blender accident at work, and he is still sent back in time by the Necronmicon, but this time its due to a scolar named Julie and a bad guy named Blackwell.
In the past he joins the Kiss Army becomes the Promised One, and defeats a Deadite army lead by Evil Shelia. He is able to return to 1979 with Kiss and stop Blackwell from kidnapping them. He then goes to the Kiss Concert with Julie and watches his past self make out with Linda before fading away.
Evil Hand Ash
Space Goat Publishing had a series run called Evil Dead 2, which took place directly after Evil Dead 2 Dead by Dawn. In this series Annie Knowby uses the Necronmicon and the Kandarian Dagger to bring Ash’s Evil hand to life as a fully formed Ash, who although does not have a soul and his has both hands again, he is not evil.
Beyond Dead by Dawn
Ash and Annie attempt to get out of Hell
Cradle of the Damned
Ash and Annie are sucked into the Mirror Dimension with the Dark Ones. Ash sacrifices himself to save Annie and send her back to Earth.
Rise of the Dark Ones
Ash makes it back to Earth to warn Annie the Dark Ones are coming. With the help of a voodoo Priestess the pair are able to banish the Dark One but this is all a vision in Annie’s mind and in truth they never left the Mirror Dimension.
Personality
In the beginning he is a laid-back everyman who is cowardly and inexperienced, but later he has grown into a much braver, more arrogant person, and the voice of encouragement and confidence in Arthur’s castle.
Abilities
He knows some degree of hand-to-hand combat techniques, and prowess with a variety of weapons in various situations. Ingenuity is his main strength as he creates a range of weapons devices such as the chainsaw bracket and shotgun harness to a functional metal arm and hand. Ash is also very smart being equipped with a book of science he was able to create an explosive compound in 1300 A.D.
Equipment:
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Chainsaw: The Sapmaster 3000
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12 gauge double-barrel Remington shotgun, which Ash affectionately nicknames his “boomstick”.
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Metal gauntlet: With tools in each finger & spring loaded
Alternate Versions
Earth- 2149 (Zombie Marvel)-In this Universe Ash has yet to go the cabin with his girlfriend, but when superheros start turning into zombies he takes a chainsaw and trys to help. He is quickly eaten by Howard the Duck who is then inturned cut in half by the real Ash.
Other Media
Played by actor Bruce Campbell in the films “Evil Dead”, “Evil Dead II” and “Army of Darkness.”
The Evil Dead
Ashley (Ash) J. Williams’ adventure began when he and 4 other friends went up to an abandoned cabin deep into the woods of Dearborn, MI. It was there Ash and his friend Scott found the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, roughly translated as the “Book of the Dead”.
That night the teens played a tape recorder where Professor Knowby spoke the words of the book which brings the evil to life. That night Ash was forced to kill his friends, whom were transformed into deadites, and burn the book to destroy the evil.
EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN
Evil Dead II is remake of The Evil Dead with a few changes (Sam Raimi had lost the rights to the previous movie and decided to remake it). That night the daughter of Professor Knowby comes to the cabin with her boyfriend and two locals. They must read from the last pages of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis in order to dispel the evil and send it back in time. Unfortunately, Professor Knowby’s daughter died before finishing the passage and never shut the time stream off, which then sends Ash back into the Medieval age.
ARMY OF DARKNESS (THE MID-EVIL DEAD, EVIL DEAD III)
Ash, now back in time, must find a way to get himself back to his time. The Wise One tells Ash he must retrieve the Necronomicon so they may read the passages that can send him back. Upon finding the Necronomicon, he recites the incorrect incantation and the army of the dead rise led by an Evil Dead. It is then that Ash too, must rise and train King Arthur’s army to defend the castle and the book. Finally, Ash’s trials are over and he is rid of the Necronomicon and the Deadites, or so it seems….
Video Games
Ash has appeared is several video games such as Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: Fist Full of Boomstick, and Evil Dead Regeneration. The thing that sets Regeneration apart from the first 2 games are the fact that in it, the events of Army of Darkness never happened. Ash has also been referenced amd parodied several times in various television shows, movies, and video games. The first time was in Duke Nukem 3D where Duke Nukem said Ash’s famous line “Hail to the King baby!”. Ash was also parodied in the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy in the form of Hoss Delgado, a spectral exterminator with a robotic right hand that can change into a chainsaw crossbow, a cannon, grenade launcher, and any other weapon you can imagine. While he is a parody of Ash his design is nearly identical to Snake Plissken.
Comic Books Where it all began the Legendary Pairing… Sam and Bruce
We first saw Bruce star as the epic cult character Ashley J “Ash” Williams in The Evil Dead, Sam Raimi’s earliest film. A low budget horror flick that was too becomes one of the most worshiped movies of our time. He supported his friend Sam by not only starring in the film but also working on the camera. The Evil Dead series continued to prosper as a cult following grew behind the epic Horror film. Sam would be Bruce’s Golden Fleece as film after film grew his popularity; the pairing would be as epic as George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg. Following on from Evil Dead Bruce would star in the sequels to follow Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness. The pair would go on to work on the legendary series Xena Warrior Princess and Hercules as well as short but hilarious appearances for Bruce in the Spiderman series. It is often said you can not throw a rock in a Sam Raimi movie without hitting Bruce or Sam’s brother Ted.
Bruce Campbell is a star of stage and screen, and has also worked behind the as a writer and director, as well as working on the audio of Darkman. Bruce has also written the comic book adaptation of his movie Man With The Screaming Brain, and has had his iconic character Ash Williams adapted into dozens of comic book issues. Bruce recently played himself in a parody of his life called my name is Bruce, a Dark Horse Comics Production, and has appeared in every Spider-Man film thus far in bit parts. Though Bruce Campbell is considered by many to be a B-Movie actor, he is one of the hardest working actors in show business, even writing two best selling novels, and working on a third book presently.