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[[quoteright:265:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ash.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:265: The name's Ash. Housewares.]]
->''"The fact is that you can't hold Ash to the same standard that you hold mere mortals to. He is not only just a complete and total BadAss; [[TropeCodifier He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[RuleOfCool jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[BottomlessMagazines in rapid succession]] [[DeathFromAbove while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[CrazyAwesome he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem impossible for him to do the things that he does and kick as much ass as he is famous for doing, I assure you that it isn't. Why, you ask? Simple. [[MemeticBadass Because he's Ash]]."''
-->-- [[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/ash.html Badass of the Week]]
In 1979, a bunch of kids got together in a cabin in Tennessee and made a film with a standard BMovie plot; this film was '''''The Evil Dead'''''. The film, which was directed by SamRaimi (of ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' fame), and starred BruceCampbell (who is most associated with this series), managed to make enough money to warrant two sequels and get into the public consciousness. The result of the two sequels was a strange blend where NarmCharm meets RuleOfCool.
The first film's story follows a bunch of kids who get together in a cabin in Tennessee and play a tape recorded recitation from a demonic book of the dead (the {{Necronomicon}}) -- which leads to each of them becoming possessed and attacking the others. ''Evil Dead 2's'' plot was '''seemingly''' a rehash of the prior film with some rewrites; only Ashley J. Williams (Campbell) and Ash's girlfriend Linda go to the cabin, and the ending leads straight into ''Army of Darkness''. The plot of the first film wasn't actually retconned, though -- due to copyright issues, Raimi was unable to use scenes from the first movie, which forced him to shoot a new recap (ignoring said recap makes ''Evil Dead 2'' a direct sequel).
''Army of Darkness'' is the most well-known (and quoted) film of the trilogy. Ash is transported back to Medieval Europe, where he finds out he can return to his own time -- if he can retrieve the Necronomicon first. Ash manages to find the book, but when he inevitably [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screws up]] the retrieval, he's forced to train and help the [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers not-quite peaceful villagers]] he's placed in the path of an Army of Darkness.
The third film catapulted Ash into pop culture popularity; there are four videogames, tons of comic book adaptions (including {{crossover}}s with [[MarvelComics Marvel Zombies]] and [[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]], as well as ''FreddyVsJasonVsAsh''), a RolePlayingGame under the Unisystem umbrella, and '''[[http://www.evildeadthemusical.com/ a Broadway musical]]''' all based on Ash and the ''Evil Dead'' trilogy.
[[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/07/13/sam-raimi-and-bruce-campbell-gear-up-for-evil-dead-remake/ A remake of the first movie]] is in pre-production; Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Bruce Campbell are producers, while Diablo Cody is revising the script. Fede Alvarez, director of the short film ''Panic Attack!'', will be directing the remake. Jane Levy of ''{{Suburgatory}}'' fame has been cast as Mia, the remake's {{Expy}} of Ash.
----
!! Films in this series:
* ''The Evil Dead'' (1981)
* ''Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn'' (1987)
* ''Army of Darkness'' (1992)
!! Video games in this series:
* ''The Evil Dead'' (1984)
* ''Evil Dead: Hail to the King'' (2000)
* ''Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick'' (2003)
* ''Evil Dead: Regeneration'' (2005)
!![[TropeNamer Tropes This Franchise Named]]:
* FakeShemp: During filming of ''The Evil Dead'', any castmember that wasn't Bruce Campbell eventually left due to various circumstances. To finish the movie, stand-ins were utilized wherever possible (sometimes quite noticeably, sometimes not) and these people were credited as this. Sam Raimi himself coined the term, inspired by the ThreeStooges. The term became a fixture of later Raimi-related productions.
* ThisIsMyBoomstick
----
!!Included:
* AshcanCopy: ''Within the Woods,'' a short film made primarily to get the first true ''EvilDead'' film financed.
* {{Angrish}}: Ash has a tendency to babble and scream incoherently when frightened or enraged.
* AnimateDead: what happens when you remove the book. There's a spell to disable that, but Ash mispronounces it; HilarityEnsues.
* ApocalypticLog: The source of the entire mess.
* ArmCannon - Literally, in the games.
* ArrowCam - A favorite of Raimi.
* ArtificialLimbs: When his hand is chopped off, Ash replaces it ''with a chainsaw.'' Later, he replaces that with a [[BambooTechnology clockwork gauntlet]].
** And in the extended media beyond the films, he'll frequently swap out his gauntlet with the saw (for example, in ''A Fistful of Boomstick'', he can switch the chainsaw out with a flamethrower and a [[MoreDakka Gatling gun]]).
* AxCrazy: How Ash copes with the events of the first two movies. By the third, he's turned it into CrazyAwesome.
* BadassNormal: Ash goes up against demons from hell, medieval knights, the undead and his own mutated friends with no training, preparation or backup, and ''still'' manages to kick ass and take names.
* [[BannedInChina Banned in]] [[strike:[[BannedInChina China]]]] [[BannedInChina Britain]]: It was one of the "VideoNasties" that got Mary Whitehouse's knickers in a twist. It was more to do with the title than the content; titles with stuff like "Evil" and "Dead" were banned in a knee-jerk reaction (although the [[CrossesTheLineTwice tree rape scene]] didn't do it any favors).
* BarrierBustingBlow - Several times across the films, but hilariously subverted in Army of Darkness, where Ash keeps screaming goofily until he notices the monster's stopped trying to get in.
* BBCQuarry: It wasn't shot in England (though the story does take place there), but Ash's arrival in the Middle Ages at the end of ''Evil Dead 2'' was filmed at a very similar-looking North Carolina rock quarry.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Mocked.
--> '''Deadite Sheila:''' "You found me beautiful once."
--> '''Ash:''' "Honey, you got ''reeaaaal'' ugly."
** Played straight with Ash himself, who only ever gets superficial injuries to his face that just make him seem more handsome. By the third film, his costume is a walking ShirtlessScene. There is a scene in the first film where he gets covered from head to toe in blood; a second later his face is completely clean, and the only thing the blood did was make his shirt cling to his chest in a fanservice-y way
* BigNo: Ash, repeatedly, but especially at [[spoiler:the alternate end of the third film.]]
* BilingualBonus: Trilingual? Necronomicon ex Mortis. The first bit means "Book of the Dead" in Greek, and the second is "from/by the Dead" in Latin.
** lets not forget its the sumerian book of the dead
* BlackAndGrayMorality: Lampshaded in ''Army of Darkness''.
--> '''Good Ash:''' [shoulders his sawn-off] Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
** Better one in the [[ReCut Director's Cut]]:
--> '''Good Ash:''' [same as above] I ain't ''that'' good.
* BlackBlood: Along with all sorts of liquids the production staff used as blood, mostly to avoid an X-rating...
** And [[spoiler: the possessed Shelly]] bleeds white blood whilst [[spoiler: faking her death throes]].
* BlandNameProduct: "Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart!"
** "YA GOT THAT!?"
* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Variant in ''Army of Darkness'', where Ash blasts a sword [[WreckedWeapon in half]].
* BlatantLies: Jake's song in the musical. He claims to have won an Oscar for directing ''{{Platoon}}'', written JackieChan's autobiography, and coined the phrase "fo shizzle, my nizzle!"
* BloodyHilarious: The second movie.
* BMovie: Definitely among the most famous {{B Movie}}s ever.
* BodyHorror: Begins fairly early in the first movie and goes downhill from there. Highlights include a snake-like neck and a breakneck ballet in the second film.
* BondOneLiner: Many. But here's one anyway:
-->'''Good Ash:''' (fires shotgun up Evil Ash's nose) Good, Bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
* BottomlessMagazines: At one point, Ash fires his double barreled shotgun at least three times in quick succession, far faster than someone with only one hand can reload. There's also the lever action rifle in ''Army of Darkness'' which he fires about 30 times without reloading. And then there's the bottomless gas tank for the chainsaw.
* ButtMonkey: {{Badass}} he may be, but Ash is still this quite often.
* ByronicHero: Ash has too many character flaws to count. Fortunately, [[TheDeterminator giving up is not one of them.]]
* CaliforniaDoubling: ''Army of Darkness'' takes place in medieval England, but it's pretty obviously filmed in Bronson Canyon and [[KirksRock Vasquez Rocks]]. Bruce Campbell has a lot of fun ribbing Sam Raimi about it in their DVD commentary. Notably averted in the first two movies, which really were filmed in the Appalachian forest (much to the chagrin of the Michigan-based cast and crew, especially during the first movie).
* TheCameo: Hinted at by ''the tape'' in the original ''Evil Dead'': "''Saman sa'rob dar ees haikar dande roza''", this being derived from "Sam [Raimi] and Rob [Tapert] are hitchhikers on the road." Sure enough, if you paid attention five minutes into the film, Scott drove the Olds past a pair of idiotic-looking hitchhikers in fishing gear, both of whom turn to wave as the car sped by.
* CatchPhrase: '' I'll swallow your soul''.
* TheCavalry: Henry the Red and his peoples.
* CanonDisContinuity: ''Evil Dead'' and ''Evil Dead 2'' have a few differences, plotwise. The number of people headed to the cabin are different (five in the original, two in the sequel). However, this is a result of Sam Raimi not having the rights to show clips from the first movie. So he decided to recap the first film in abbreviated form instead, then continuing from the very end of the first [[spoiler: where Ash gets run into by the Evil-cam]].
** Sam Raimi explains in the ''Evil Dead 2'' commentary that you can attach the Evil Dead 2 scene with Ash being attacked at daybreak to the first movie's ending, then remove Ash's arrival in medieval times from ''Evil Dead 2'', and then attach Ash's arrival from ''Army of Darkness'' onto it instead, and you'll have the single-continuity storyline he envisioned. He also said he feels sorry for anyone who'd sit through the resulting 6-hour movie (though many fans might disagree).
* [[SwordAndGun Chainsaw And Shotgun]]
* ChainsawGood: Probably one of the most iconic examples in media.
* TheChewToy: Ash just can't get a break. The original ending of the third movie would have taken this UpToEleven.
* TheChosenOne: Technically, the "Promised One". Also mixed with a little ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Ash's tying down of Bad Ash so he can properly chop him up with the chainsaw. There is, however, no gloating.
** Really, it was more about preventing Bad Ash from hindering him down the road (and a reference to the first movie), but it's quite likely that Ash enjoyed having a Deadite at his mercy (or lack thereof).
* CoolCar: Sam Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile is Ash's in the series. Even the car TookALevelInBadass in ''Army of Darkness'', when it is turned into a [[SteamPunk war machine]].
* DaylightHorror: The ending to the first movie. A few scares at the beginning too.
* DanceSensation: ''[[TheMusical Dooo the Necronomicon.]] [[EarWorm The Necronomicon.]]''
* [[spoiler: DeadlyRotaryFan]]: Taken UpToEleven with the aforementioned CoolCar's combat refit.
* DeadpanSnarker: Played straight in "Army of Darkness." Ash finds plenty of opportunities to snark about medieval culture and action-adventure tropes.
** Ash gets some moments in the first two movies, too.
--->'''Linda''': Hey Ash, I guessed the card right!
--->'''Ash''' (distracted): Yeah, truly amazing.
* DemBones: Most of the eponymous Army raised by Evil Ash/the Necronomicon in ''Army of Darkness''.
* DecoyProtagonist: Early in the first movie, Scott seems to be the hero while Ash is next to useless. This quickly changes.
* DemonicPossession: Pretty much the whole plot of the first two movies. [[spoiler: Sheila in the third.]]
* DescriptionPorn: From ''Army of Darkness'', Ash introducing his boomstick.
* DirtyCoward: Scott in the first movie. Played with in the sequels with Ash, where he seemingly acts like a coward, but he either really isn't or just mans up.
* DodgeThis: "Swallow this." * BOOM! *
* {{Earworm}}: Almost every song in the musical. "Cabin in the Woods," "All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed By Candarian Demons," and "What the Fuck Was That?" come to mind...
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The original ending of ''Army of Darkness''. The exact opposite of the theatrical version.]]
** Not that the first two movies had very happy endings themselves, Evil Dead II less so than the first.
* DungAges: ''Army of Darkness'', and results in Ash being a jerk to everyone in the beginning.
* EnemyWithout
* EverybodysDeadDave: [[spoiler: Including your own hand.]]
** AND they're comin' back to getcha!
* EvilHand
* EvilIsHammy: The Deadites in the first movie and Evil Ash in ''Army of Darkness''.
* EvilLaugh: The Deadites love doing this.
* EvilTwin: The twin from ''Army of Darkness'' that Ash ends up fighting.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The entire trilogy takes place in about a week, going by Ash's perspective.
* EyePoke: Ash gets a number of these in the cemetery scene.
* EyeScream
* FateWorseThanDeath: Assuming you trust the source, the second movie alludes to possession and death being the least of victims' problems in this series:
-->"Even now we have your darling Linda's soul. She suffers in torment."
* FinalGirl: Um...Guy, although with something of a GenderBlenderName. This "twist" was actually commented on by film studies, and it's now a bit cooler for guys to have this name.
* FlyAtTheCameraEnding: Inverted. The camera flies at BruceCampbell at the end.
* ForgingScene: "Groovy".
* ForTheEvulz: Pretty much the Deadites' only motivation for doing anything.
* FridgeLogic: Brought up in the commentary for ''Army of Darkness''. [[invoked]]
--> '''Sam Raimi:''' How come your hand's still stuck in there even though it's chopped off?
--> '''Bruce Campbell:''' It's 'cause the director told me to.
* GenderBlenderName: Who'd have thought that one of the most significant BadAss characters of the Eighties would be named Ashley?
* GeniusDitz: Ash may be a total cartoon character (when he's not being a badass), but he's still able to effortlessly create a fully-articulated [[spoiler:prosthetic hand]] for himself, synthesize gunpowder and explosive materials using only found natural resources and the Chemistry textbooks in the trunk of his car, and then turn said car into a whirling, bladed death machine. As he puts it:
-->'''Ash:''' With SCIENCE!
* GenreSavvy: Ash knows that just because a Deadite is down, doesn't mean it's dead. However, he learns this through hard experience, not pre-thought wisdom.
-->'''Ash''': "It's a trick. Get an axe."
* GenreShift: The first movie is a more-or-less straightforward horror film. ''Evil Dead 2'' is a strange hybrid of gory, serious horror, and slapstick comedy. ''Army of Darkness'' drops almost all the horror and works instead as an action-comedy. This is surprisingly ''not'' an example of ExecutiveMeddling, as creator Sam Raimi helmed all three films, and the progression from horror to comedy was his own idea.
** The shift is also very effective in showing Ash's descent into madness.
* {{Gorn}}: The second and third film cranked up the gore, with the second having a near-flooding of the cabin floor with orange blood from a decapitation, and the third having a ''geyser'' of blood.
* GoryDiscretionShot: In the second movie, just as Ash is about to use the chainsaw on [[spoiler:Deadite Linda]]'s head, this trope is invoked - showing blood splattering on the walls and shadows rather than the actual act. The DVD commentary points out the irony of this.
-->"Why are you not showing that part? You've shown everything else."
* GunsAkimbo
* GroinAttack
* HauntedHeadquarters: The cabin in the woods.
* HelpingHands
* HeroOfAnotherStory: According to the recordings, Professor Knowby had his own share of Deadite troubles before Ash got anywhere near the cabin.
* HighPressureBlood
* TheHyena: Deadite Linda.
* IdiotHero: Ash.
** It is plausible that he is simply BrilliantButLazy. Ash shows remarkable technical skill, leadership and general competence when he's actually forced to. This [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] more supported by the RevisedEnding where Ash is shown back at his non-demanding S-Mart job despite having the capacity to do much more with his life.
* IgnoredExpert: The wiseman in ''Army of Darkness''.
-->'''Wiseman:''' My Lord, I believe he is the one written of in the Necronomicon. He who is prophesied to fall from the Heavens and deliver us from the terrors of the Deadites.
-->'''Arthur:''' What? That buffoon? Likely he's one of Henry's men. I say to the pit with him!
* IncrediblyLamePun: Deadite Cheryl speaks in nearly nothing but these in the musical.
-->'''Cheryl''': I’ll get you, Ash! I’m like a literal Hulk Hogan... I’ll get you, brother!
-->'''Ash''': Shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': We’re like that Columbia House 'Ten CD’s for a Penny' club. Sooner or later, you’ll ''join us!''
-->'''Ash''': Shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': I’m like Dom [=DeLuise=] at an all-you-can-eat fish house. I’ll swallow your 'sole'!
-->'''Ash''': God, shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': It’ll be like you were killed by some guy whose first name happens to be Dawn, so you’ll be dead... by Dawn!
-->'''Ash''': That is ''it!''
** After having to cut off his own possessed hand, Ash sticks it to the floor with a knife, covers it with a bucket, and proceeds to stack on books [[GenreSavvy just in case it tries to escape anyway.]] The book on top? ''A Farewell To Arms''.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: In the spin-off comics Ash has become something of a crossover whore, having encountered {{Darkman}}, the Universal Monsters, Xena, Doctor Herbert West, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, the Marvel Zombies and... BarackObama.
* InsultBackfire:
--> '''Arthur''': Are all men from the future loud-mouthed braggarts?
--> '''Ash''': Nope. Just me baby... Just me.
* IronicEcho: In the first film, Ash flirtatiously peeks at Linda while pretending to be asleep, shutting his eyes when she looks back at him. After she's possessed and apparently killed, her "corpse" does the same thing to him.
* IronicNurseryTune: ''"We're going to get you, We're going to get you."''
* ItGotWorse: Pretty much the entire point of the series. Every time it look like it might either be getting better, or he might hit rock bottom, or he has any kind of fortune or misfortune whatsoever, something happens to Ash. Case in point - after surviving most of the night, killing his zombie ex-girlfriend and [[spoiler: presumably]] taking care of his own zombie hand by cutting it off, another group of people show up, think he murdered their family, and throw him in the cellar. Headfirst. Then, they listen to the ApocalypticLog and find out the old man who lived there was actually attacked by his possessed ex-wife. And he buried her in the cellar...
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ash in the sequels, especially ''Army of Darkness''.
* [[spoiler: KillEmAll:]] Everybody but Ash in [[spoiler: 1 and 2.]]
* KensingtonGore: Lots of it. The Musical is one of the few Broadway shows to include a "splatter zone" and fans have taken to wearing white t-shirts to shows to take home as bloody souvenirs.
* LampshadeHanging: The musical does quite a bit of it. It even points out the inconsistency with [[spoiler:Ash being brought back from the curse from seeing Linda's necklace... even though Linda is a Deadite now]].
* LanternJawOfJustice
* LargeHam: Rumor has it that Bruce Campbell was hospitalized for two weeks after filming "Army of Darkness" on account of the damage done to his digestive tract after eating all of that scenery.
** Deadite Cheryl in the first film is also a major one.
* LateToTheTragedy - Although Ash and his friends don't realize it at first
* LegCling The poster for "Army of Darkness"
* LickingTheBlade
* LivingLegend: Ash could have been a king. In his own way, he ''was'' king.
* LockAndLoadMontage
* LockedIntoStrangeness - It's very easy to miss, but after his penultimate confrontation with [[EldritchAbomination the big freakin' demon]] at the end of ''Evil Dead 2'', Ash gains a white/grey stripe of hair on the side of his head from fright. However, this seems to disappear in ''Army of Darkness''.
** The white stripe actually appears in his hair as a stop motion special effect when he first sees the Eldritch Horror. Easy to miss, but very cool.
* LosingYourHead: Linda in "2" and ''Evil'' Ash in "Army of Darkness".
* TheLostWoods: The setting of the first two movies once the Necronomicon's been read aloud, they also take up some of the plot during ''Army of Darkness'', as Ash rides to find the Necronomicon.
** ''Within the Woods'', a "practice" film Raimi and Co. made pre-''Evil Dead''.
* MadnessMantra: ''Evil Dead 2''
--> "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?"
* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: Ash evolves from a fairly sensitive guy into snarling comedic misanthropy over the course of the movies, though he's had one ''hell'' of a bad weekend to justify it. It probably didn't help that his allies in both the second and third movie introduced themselves by trying to kill him.
-->'''Ash''': Now I swear... the next one of you ''primates''... even ''touches'' me...
* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar; To some point, thanks to Ash's quick application of steam and gunpowder knowledge the medieval Englishmen got a chance against a vast undead army.
-->'''Ash:''' [[RousingSpeech We can take these guys, we can take them!]] [[ForScience With science]]!
* MedievalMorons: "You primitive screwheads!"
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: SPECTACULARLY averted. Of the seven people killed in the first two movies, five of them are women. The SoleSurvivor is even a man.
* MetafictionalTitle: Evil Dead was originally named Book of the Dead after the book of the same name, which appears in the movie. The name was changed because the executives didn't want people to think [[ViewersAreMorons it was a movie about a book]].
* TheMiddleAges: Setting of ''ArmyOfDarkness''
* MindControlEyes: Used straight and subverted, at a couple points the deadites go back to their host's pre-corpse state to fool Ash.
* MonochromaticEyes: On the Deadites.
* MoodWhiplash: The two sequels go from scary to hilarious and back again so quickly that your neck will hurt.
* {{Mooks}}: The titular army in Army of Darkness.
* TheMusical: The franchise gained a musical adaptation, which has appeared on Broadway.
* NamesTheSame: [[MassEffect Ashley Williams.]] Yeah it was deliberate.
-->Nothing like a nice relaxing stroll on the beach...blasting bad guys with my ''boomstick.''
* NightOfTheLivingMooks: The titular army in ''Army of Darkness''. Partially subverted in that they ''run away screaming'' when shelled with explosive arrows and bags of gunpowder.
* NippleAndDimed: There's a short, blink-and-you-miss-it moment in "Army of Darkness" where a couple of topless slave girls are herded past the camera. It may have been intended as FanService, but the fact that they're being led off to be raped by demonic undead monsters achieves the [[FanDisservice opposite]] effect, underscored by the fact that it happens while [[spoiler: Sheila is being forcibly kissed by Deadite!Ash]].
* NoBudget: The first movie (which also lead to [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19901_5-great-movie-scenes-made-possible-by-reckless-endangerment_p2.html a lot of]] EnforcedMethodActing)
* OldShame: The aforementioned tree scene covered under WhenTreesAttack.
* OrificeInvasion: Spoofed in ''Army of Darkness''. Played ''much'' more seriously in the original.
* TheOtherDarrin: The Two Other Lindas (the latter played by BridgetFonda)
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They're Sumerian demons that possess corpses and the weak-minded, turning them into monsters.
* PeekABooCorpse
* PopculturalOsmosis
* PostClimaxConfrontation: Replaced the DownerEnding of ''Army of Darkness''.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Kind of Ash's specialty...
-->'''Ash:''' Yo. She-bitch. Let's go.
-->'''Ash:''' Come to Papa.
-->'''Ash:''' Lady, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the store.
** Cranked UpToEleven in ''Fistful of Boomstick'' videogame, where Ash would spout random one-liners with a press of a button.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: [[ThisIsMyBoomstick "This... Is... My... BOOMSTICK!"]]
* RainOfBlood
* RatedMForManly: Although this is present in the second film as well, "Army of Darkness" is so manly that it can make your TV grow chest hair and a full-length beard. [[TestosteronePoisoning Some of it is definitely satirical, however.]]
* RealLifeRelative: Ted Raimi, natch, who appears in every movie in different roles. Ivan Raimi is also credited as Fake Shemp in the first and third movies (the latter of which he co-wrote).
** Bruce Campbell's father also appears in ''Army of Darkness'' as one of the soldiers that gets killed in battle.
* RedEyesTakeWarning
* RefusalOfTheCall: In ''Army of Darkness'', Ash does everything he can to avoid being the savior the people need him to be. It takes a DamselInDistress to snap him out of it.
* {{Retcon}}: In-universe example; the Book of the Dead is given the title "Naturom Demonto" in the first film, then changed to being the Necronomicon in the second film as a ShoutOut to Creator/HPLovecraft, and finally it becomes "{{Necronomicon}} [[GratuitousLatin ex Mortis]]" in ''Army of Darkness''. This last change is particularly egrerious to anyone who [[BilingualBonus understands Latin]]; it directly means "The book of the dead of the dead", though it's (understandably) more commonly translated as "The dead book of the dead" in the media, which sounds... well, still not entirely sensible, but not as outright stupid as the first translation.
** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Each film becomes more comical than the last.
* RevisedEnding: ''Army of Darkness'' originally has an CruelTwistEnding with Ash [[spoiler: waking up in post apocalyptic England after taking too much of a sleeping potion]], which was changed to a PreAssKickingOneLiner filled ending thanks to ExecutiveMeddling.
** "Hail to the King, baby!"
* RuleOfCool: Ash kills demons with a shotgun in his left hand, and a chainsaw ''as'' his right hand, all while spouting one-liners and puns that are [[SoBadItsGood so bad they're good.]]
* RuleOfFunny: Partially the driving purpose behind the two sequels.
* SatireParodyPastiche
* SawedOffShotgun
* SerialEscalation: The series begins with a college student fighting demons in an isolated cabin in the woods, and gets ''cooler from there.''
* ShakyPOVCam
* ShoutOut: Included in the cellar is a ripped poster from ''The Hills Have Eyes''. Wes Craven returned the favor by showing ''Evil Dead'' on TV in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984''. Then Raimi did it again by sticking a Freddy glove in ''Evil Dead 2''.
** A number of physical-comedy scenes from ''Army Of Darkness'' are an obvious ''TheThreeStooges'' homage.
** The haunted forest with a girl running in the darkness and attacked by possessed trees reminds a little [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White's]] dark forest sequence, exepct this time the trees are real and not part of hallucinations.
* TheSiege
* SlapSlapKiss: {{Lampshaded}} by Ash in ''Army of Darkness''.
-->'''Ash:''' First you want to kill me, now you want to kiss me. Blow.
* SlaveMooks: The first 2's deadites.
* TheSmartGuy: Annie Knowby in ''Evil Dead 2''.The creators joke in their DVD commentary that, had she been in Ash's situation from the beginning, she would have solved the whole thing in about 30 minutes.
* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: See GenreShift.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Twice in ''Evil Dead.'' Jazz music from a possessed record player when Ash is in the cellar where blood starts leaking from everything. Cheerful, big-band music also begins playing over the end credits, and then begins to... slow.
* StockShoutOuts:
** "KlaatuBaradaNikto" Taken from ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' but [[OlderThanTheyThink some just know it from this.]]
** In some of the movies the "Book of the Dead" is referred to as the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Necronomicon]] ex Mortis.
* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: the original end of ''Army''.
* StarMakingRole: Bruce Campbell is most definitely annoyed by the amount of people who ask him about ''Evil Dead IV''.
* TaxidermyTerror: The house in ''Evil Dead II'' is full of creepy stuffed trophy heads who laugh at Ash.
* TiredOfRunning: By the last fifteen minutes of each movie in the trilogy, Ash has been driven mad by the things the Evil has forced him to see and do, to the point where he is no longer scared so much as just pissed off. It is at this point he raises hell with his chainsaw and/or shotgun.
** In ''Army of Darkness'', Ash actually tells the panicking to go ahead and run if they wish.
--->"I'm staying!"
* TitleTheAdaptation: Evil Dead: The Musical!
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The "Morturom Demonto," though it becomes the "Necronomicron ex Mortis" in the sequels (after Sam Raimi learned about Creator/HPLovecraft and renamed the book as a ShoutOut). Usually shortened by characters to either "the Necronomicon" or "the Book of the Dead".
* TooDumbToLive: Cheryl, to some degree. The musical hangs a huge lampshade on this:
-->'''Cheryl:''' Now, Mother always said when you hear a strange, frightening and potentially life-threatening ghostly chant coming from the dark woods, there's only one thing that you should do: ''not go wake the others and go investigate it alone!''
* TookALevelInBadass: Ash. He starts off as a nebbish, somewhat timid college student. A few days (and two sequels) later, he's redefined the word badass.
** Bruce Campbell himself actually took a level in badass during the filming of ''Evil Dead 2'', so he could be a better fit to the shotgun-wielding chainsaw-handed king of badasses that Ash would eventually become.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Ash, in the MarvelZombies crossover, is much more willing to hit on women and general has no idea what is going on.
** But of course, [[FridgeBrilliance these weren't the zombie breed he fought against]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: In the first movie, Ash is a NiceGuy thrown into the middle of a nightmare and struggles to survive. Throughout the next two movies, his experiences lead to him becoming increasingly more snarky and obnoxious, to the point where he apathetically "helps" the local castle and refuses to help them when the deadites take the Necronomicon. TropesAreNotBad, however, as that is the version of Ash that fans remember and love.
* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Sort of. They weren't exactly peaceful to begin with, but showing them how to make gunpowder certainly was useful. Oddly enough there's another scene where he teaches them how to use ''their own'' BladeOnAStick weapons.
* TheUndead: Naturally.
* UnholyMatrimony: Bad Ash and Bad Sheila in AOD.
* UnlikelyHero: Ash in ''Army of Darkness''. Lampshaded in ''Evil Dead II''.
* VideoNasties: Probably the best known film bearing this trope.
* ViewersAreMorons: The original title for the first movie was ''The Book of the Dead''. Their agent, however, suggested they change it on the grounds that movie-goers would think they'd have to read or be uninterested in a movie with "book" in the title. TropesAreNotBad, though, as Raimi and co. grew to love the new title.
* TheWallsAreClosingIn: ''Army of Darkness'' sees Ash thrown into a pit containing a few demons that he has to fight, as well as this particular DeathTrap just to make things more exciting. He escapes by hanging onto the chain powering the closing walls as it moves up.
* WaterfallShower: Abbey and Ash take one, to wash off zombie goo, in ''DangerGirl and the ArmyOfDarkness'' #5.
* WeaponizedCar: See CoolCar above.
* WhatAnIdiot[[invoked]]: According to Campbell, Ash is a complete and utter moron who is only good at ''one'' thing. Of course, that ''one thing'' is fighting Deadites and therefore saving the world.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Annie from ''Evil Dead 2'' was written as a role for HollyHunter. Dino De Laurentis vetoed the choice as he didn't think she was beautiful enough.
** ''Army of Darkness'' was originally conceived as the ''second'' film in the series, and some trade magazines even released advertisements announcing its production (under the title of ''Evil Dead II: Evil Dead and the Army of Darkness'') in 1984. Thanks to a lowered budget and [[ExecutiveMeddling Dino de Laurentiis desiring a movie that was more like the original]], that concept was shelved in favor of the ''Evil Dead II'' we know and love. Thankfully, ''Army'' eventually got made anyway.
* WhatHappenedToMommy: Ash has a hard time convincing himself to kill his friends and girlfriend after they're possessed. Annie briefly faces this situation literally with her possessed mother.
* WhatTheHellHero: Ash messes up reciting The Words and doesn't care that he has doomed everyone.
--> '''Ash:''' Klaatu! Verata! Ni--*coughcoughcough*...OK then! That's it!
** It takes the castle getting raided, everyone turning his back on him, and his love interest kidnapped for him to snap out of it.
* WhenTreesAttack: The infamous "tree rape" scene from the original ''Evil Dead''.
** Sam Raimi has said that he wishes he could go back and re-do the movie and leave out that scene -- in fact, in ''Evil Dead II,'' the remake, the demon-possessed trees just kill their victims.
** It may be telling that the scene was co-producer Rob Tapert's idea, and that the "cast episodes" of ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''XenaWarriorPrincess'', also by Renaissance Pictures, have Bruce Campbell playing Rob as a LovableSexManiac.
* WhosLaughingNow: After taking constant abuse from his EvilHand, Ash invokes this trope (even the title word-for-word!) with the help of a nearby chainsaw.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: the English in 1300 are perfectly capable of understanding Ash's very slangy modern English, and themselves speak modern English peppered with "thee"s and "shalt"s.
----
->''"Groovy."''
[[caption-width-right:265: The name's Ash. Housewares.]]
->''"The fact is that you can't hold Ash to the same standard that you hold mere mortals to. He is not only just a complete and total BadAss; [[TropeCodifier He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[RuleOfCool jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[BottomlessMagazines in rapid succession]] [[DeathFromAbove while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[CrazyAwesome he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem impossible for him to do the things that he does and kick as much ass as he is famous for doing, I assure you that it isn't. Why, you ask? Simple. [[MemeticBadass Because he's Ash]]."''
-->-- [[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/ash.html Badass of the Week]]
In 1979, a bunch of kids got together in a cabin in Tennessee and made a film with a standard BMovie plot; this film was '''''The Evil Dead'''''. The film, which was directed by SamRaimi (of ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' fame), and starred BruceCampbell (who is most associated with this series), managed to make enough money to warrant two sequels and get into the public consciousness. The result of the two sequels was a strange blend where NarmCharm meets RuleOfCool.
The first film's story follows a bunch of kids who get together in a cabin in Tennessee and play a tape recorded recitation from a demonic book of the dead (the {{Necronomicon}}) -- which leads to each of them becoming possessed and attacking the others. ''Evil Dead 2's'' plot was '''seemingly''' a rehash of the prior film with some rewrites; only Ashley J. Williams (Campbell) and Ash's girlfriend Linda go to the cabin, and the ending leads straight into ''Army of Darkness''. The plot of the first film wasn't actually retconned, though -- due to copyright issues, Raimi was unable to use scenes from the first movie, which forced him to shoot a new recap (ignoring said recap makes ''Evil Dead 2'' a direct sequel).
''Army of Darkness'' is the most well-known (and quoted) film of the trilogy. Ash is transported back to Medieval Europe, where he finds out he can return to his own time -- if he can retrieve the Necronomicon first. Ash manages to find the book, but when he inevitably [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screws up]] the retrieval, he's forced to train and help the [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers not-quite peaceful villagers]] he's placed in the path of an Army of Darkness.
The third film catapulted Ash into pop culture popularity; there are four videogames, tons of comic book adaptions (including {{crossover}}s with [[MarvelComics Marvel Zombies]] and [[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]], as well as ''FreddyVsJasonVsAsh''), a RolePlayingGame under the Unisystem umbrella, and '''[[http://www.evildeadthemusical.com/ a Broadway musical]]''' all based on Ash and the ''Evil Dead'' trilogy.
[[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/07/13/sam-raimi-and-bruce-campbell-gear-up-for-evil-dead-remake/ A remake of the first movie]] is in pre-production; Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Bruce Campbell are producers, while Diablo Cody is revising the script. Fede Alvarez, director of the short film ''Panic Attack!'', will be directing the remake. Jane Levy of ''{{Suburgatory}}'' fame has been cast as Mia, the remake's {{Expy}} of Ash.
----
!! Films in this series:
* ''The Evil Dead'' (1981)
* ''Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn'' (1987)
* ''Army of Darkness'' (1992)
!! Video games in this series:
* ''The Evil Dead'' (1984)
* ''Evil Dead: Hail to the King'' (2000)
* ''Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick'' (2003)
* ''Evil Dead: Regeneration'' (2005)
!![[TropeNamer Tropes This Franchise Named]]:
* FakeShemp: During filming of ''The Evil Dead'', any castmember that wasn't Bruce Campbell eventually left due to various circumstances. To finish the movie, stand-ins were utilized wherever possible (sometimes quite noticeably, sometimes not) and these people were credited as this. Sam Raimi himself coined the term, inspired by the ThreeStooges. The term became a fixture of later Raimi-related productions.
* ThisIsMyBoomstick
----
!!Included:
* AshcanCopy: ''Within the Woods,'' a short film made primarily to get the first true ''EvilDead'' film financed.
* {{Angrish}}: Ash has a tendency to babble and scream incoherently when frightened or enraged.
* AnimateDead: what happens when you remove the book. There's a spell to disable that, but Ash mispronounces it; HilarityEnsues.
* ApocalypticLog: The source of the entire mess.
* ArmCannon - Literally, in the games.
* ArrowCam - A favorite of Raimi.
* ArtificialLimbs: When his hand is chopped off, Ash replaces it ''with a chainsaw.'' Later, he replaces that with a [[BambooTechnology clockwork gauntlet]].
** And in the extended media beyond the films, he'll frequently swap out his gauntlet with the saw (for example, in ''A Fistful of Boomstick'', he can switch the chainsaw out with a flamethrower and a [[MoreDakka Gatling gun]]).
* AxCrazy: How Ash copes with the events of the first two movies. By the third, he's turned it into CrazyAwesome.
* BadassNormal: Ash goes up against demons from hell, medieval knights, the undead and his own mutated friends with no training, preparation or backup, and ''still'' manages to kick ass and take names.
* [[BannedInChina Banned in]] [[strike:[[BannedInChina China]]]] [[BannedInChina Britain]]: It was one of the "VideoNasties" that got Mary Whitehouse's knickers in a twist. It was more to do with the title than the content; titles with stuff like "Evil" and "Dead" were banned in a knee-jerk reaction (although the [[CrossesTheLineTwice tree rape scene]] didn't do it any favors).
* BarrierBustingBlow - Several times across the films, but hilariously subverted in Army of Darkness, where Ash keeps screaming goofily until he notices the monster's stopped trying to get in.
* BBCQuarry: It wasn't shot in England (though the story does take place there), but Ash's arrival in the Middle Ages at the end of ''Evil Dead 2'' was filmed at a very similar-looking North Carolina rock quarry.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Mocked.
--> '''Deadite Sheila:''' "You found me beautiful once."
--> '''Ash:''' "Honey, you got ''reeaaaal'' ugly."
** Played straight with Ash himself, who only ever gets superficial injuries to his face that just make him seem more handsome. By the third film, his costume is a walking ShirtlessScene. There is a scene in the first film where he gets covered from head to toe in blood; a second later his face is completely clean, and the only thing the blood did was make his shirt cling to his chest in a fanservice-y way
* BigNo: Ash, repeatedly, but especially at [[spoiler:the alternate end of the third film.]]
* BilingualBonus: Trilingual? Necronomicon ex Mortis. The first bit means "Book of the Dead" in Greek, and the second is "from/by the Dead" in Latin.
** lets not forget its the sumerian book of the dead
* BlackAndGrayMorality: Lampshaded in ''Army of Darkness''.
--> '''Good Ash:''' [shoulders his sawn-off] Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
** Better one in the [[ReCut Director's Cut]]:
--> '''Good Ash:''' [same as above] I ain't ''that'' good.
* BlackBlood: Along with all sorts of liquids the production staff used as blood, mostly to avoid an X-rating...
** And [[spoiler: the possessed Shelly]] bleeds white blood whilst [[spoiler: faking her death throes]].
* BlandNameProduct: "Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart!"
** "YA GOT THAT!?"
* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Variant in ''Army of Darkness'', where Ash blasts a sword [[WreckedWeapon in half]].
* BlatantLies: Jake's song in the musical. He claims to have won an Oscar for directing ''{{Platoon}}'', written JackieChan's autobiography, and coined the phrase "fo shizzle, my nizzle!"
* BloodyHilarious: The second movie.
* BMovie: Definitely among the most famous {{B Movie}}s ever.
* BodyHorror: Begins fairly early in the first movie and goes downhill from there. Highlights include a snake-like neck and a breakneck ballet in the second film.
* BondOneLiner: Many. But here's one anyway:
-->'''Good Ash:''' (fires shotgun up Evil Ash's nose) Good, Bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
* BottomlessMagazines: At one point, Ash fires his double barreled shotgun at least three times in quick succession, far faster than someone with only one hand can reload. There's also the lever action rifle in ''Army of Darkness'' which he fires about 30 times without reloading. And then there's the bottomless gas tank for the chainsaw.
* ButtMonkey: {{Badass}} he may be, but Ash is still this quite often.
* ByronicHero: Ash has too many character flaws to count. Fortunately, [[TheDeterminator giving up is not one of them.]]
* CaliforniaDoubling: ''Army of Darkness'' takes place in medieval England, but it's pretty obviously filmed in Bronson Canyon and [[KirksRock Vasquez Rocks]]. Bruce Campbell has a lot of fun ribbing Sam Raimi about it in their DVD commentary. Notably averted in the first two movies, which really were filmed in the Appalachian forest (much to the chagrin of the Michigan-based cast and crew, especially during the first movie).
* TheCameo: Hinted at by ''the tape'' in the original ''Evil Dead'': "''Saman sa'rob dar ees haikar dande roza''", this being derived from "Sam [Raimi] and Rob [Tapert] are hitchhikers on the road." Sure enough, if you paid attention five minutes into the film, Scott drove the Olds past a pair of idiotic-looking hitchhikers in fishing gear, both of whom turn to wave as the car sped by.
* CatchPhrase: '' I'll swallow your soul''.
* TheCavalry: Henry the Red and his peoples.
* CanonDisContinuity: ''Evil Dead'' and ''Evil Dead 2'' have a few differences, plotwise. The number of people headed to the cabin are different (five in the original, two in the sequel). However, this is a result of Sam Raimi not having the rights to show clips from the first movie. So he decided to recap the first film in abbreviated form instead, then continuing from the very end of the first [[spoiler: where Ash gets run into by the Evil-cam]].
** Sam Raimi explains in the ''Evil Dead 2'' commentary that you can attach the Evil Dead 2 scene with Ash being attacked at daybreak to the first movie's ending, then remove Ash's arrival in medieval times from ''Evil Dead 2'', and then attach Ash's arrival from ''Army of Darkness'' onto it instead, and you'll have the single-continuity storyline he envisioned. He also said he feels sorry for anyone who'd sit through the resulting 6-hour movie (though many fans might disagree).
* [[SwordAndGun Chainsaw And Shotgun]]
* ChainsawGood: Probably one of the most iconic examples in media.
* TheChewToy: Ash just can't get a break. The original ending of the third movie would have taken this UpToEleven.
* TheChosenOne: Technically, the "Promised One". Also mixed with a little ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Ash's tying down of Bad Ash so he can properly chop him up with the chainsaw. There is, however, no gloating.
** Really, it was more about preventing Bad Ash from hindering him down the road (and a reference to the first movie), but it's quite likely that Ash enjoyed having a Deadite at his mercy (or lack thereof).
* CoolCar: Sam Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile is Ash's in the series. Even the car TookALevelInBadass in ''Army of Darkness'', when it is turned into a [[SteamPunk war machine]].
* DaylightHorror: The ending to the first movie. A few scares at the beginning too.
* DanceSensation: ''[[TheMusical Dooo the Necronomicon.]] [[EarWorm The Necronomicon.]]''
* [[spoiler: DeadlyRotaryFan]]: Taken UpToEleven with the aforementioned CoolCar's combat refit.
* DeadpanSnarker: Played straight in "Army of Darkness." Ash finds plenty of opportunities to snark about medieval culture and action-adventure tropes.
** Ash gets some moments in the first two movies, too.
--->'''Linda''': Hey Ash, I guessed the card right!
--->'''Ash''' (distracted): Yeah, truly amazing.
* DemBones: Most of the eponymous Army raised by Evil Ash/the Necronomicon in ''Army of Darkness''.
* DecoyProtagonist: Early in the first movie, Scott seems to be the hero while Ash is next to useless. This quickly changes.
* DemonicPossession: Pretty much the whole plot of the first two movies. [[spoiler: Sheila in the third.]]
* DescriptionPorn: From ''Army of Darkness'', Ash introducing his boomstick.
* DirtyCoward: Scott in the first movie. Played with in the sequels with Ash, where he seemingly acts like a coward, but he either really isn't or just mans up.
* DodgeThis: "Swallow this." * BOOM! *
* {{Earworm}}: Almost every song in the musical. "Cabin in the Woods," "All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed By Candarian Demons," and "What the Fuck Was That?" come to mind...
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The original ending of ''Army of Darkness''. The exact opposite of the theatrical version.]]
** Not that the first two movies had very happy endings themselves, Evil Dead II less so than the first.
* DungAges: ''Army of Darkness'', and results in Ash being a jerk to everyone in the beginning.
* EnemyWithout
* EverybodysDeadDave: [[spoiler: Including your own hand.]]
** AND they're comin' back to getcha!
* EvilHand
* EvilIsHammy: The Deadites in the first movie and Evil Ash in ''Army of Darkness''.
* EvilLaugh: The Deadites love doing this.
* EvilTwin: The twin from ''Army of Darkness'' that Ash ends up fighting.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The entire trilogy takes place in about a week, going by Ash's perspective.
* EyePoke: Ash gets a number of these in the cemetery scene.
* EyeScream
* FateWorseThanDeath: Assuming you trust the source, the second movie alludes to possession and death being the least of victims' problems in this series:
-->"Even now we have your darling Linda's soul. She suffers in torment."
* FinalGirl: Um...Guy, although with something of a GenderBlenderName. This "twist" was actually commented on by film studies, and it's now a bit cooler for guys to have this name.
* FlyAtTheCameraEnding: Inverted. The camera flies at BruceCampbell at the end.
* ForgingScene: "Groovy".
* ForTheEvulz: Pretty much the Deadites' only motivation for doing anything.
* FridgeLogic: Brought up in the commentary for ''Army of Darkness''. [[invoked]]
--> '''Sam Raimi:''' How come your hand's still stuck in there even though it's chopped off?
--> '''Bruce Campbell:''' It's 'cause the director told me to.
* GenderBlenderName: Who'd have thought that one of the most significant BadAss characters of the Eighties would be named Ashley?
* GeniusDitz: Ash may be a total cartoon character (when he's not being a badass), but he's still able to effortlessly create a fully-articulated [[spoiler:prosthetic hand]] for himself, synthesize gunpowder and explosive materials using only found natural resources and the Chemistry textbooks in the trunk of his car, and then turn said car into a whirling, bladed death machine. As he puts it:
-->'''Ash:''' With SCIENCE!
* GenreSavvy: Ash knows that just because a Deadite is down, doesn't mean it's dead. However, he learns this through hard experience, not pre-thought wisdom.
-->'''Ash''': "It's a trick. Get an axe."
* GenreShift: The first movie is a more-or-less straightforward horror film. ''Evil Dead 2'' is a strange hybrid of gory, serious horror, and slapstick comedy. ''Army of Darkness'' drops almost all the horror and works instead as an action-comedy. This is surprisingly ''not'' an example of ExecutiveMeddling, as creator Sam Raimi helmed all three films, and the progression from horror to comedy was his own idea.
** The shift is also very effective in showing Ash's descent into madness.
* {{Gorn}}: The second and third film cranked up the gore, with the second having a near-flooding of the cabin floor with orange blood from a decapitation, and the third having a ''geyser'' of blood.
* GoryDiscretionShot: In the second movie, just as Ash is about to use the chainsaw on [[spoiler:Deadite Linda]]'s head, this trope is invoked - showing blood splattering on the walls and shadows rather than the actual act. The DVD commentary points out the irony of this.
-->"Why are you not showing that part? You've shown everything else."
* GunsAkimbo
* GroinAttack
* HauntedHeadquarters: The cabin in the woods.
* HelpingHands
* HeroOfAnotherStory: According to the recordings, Professor Knowby had his own share of Deadite troubles before Ash got anywhere near the cabin.
* HighPressureBlood
* TheHyena: Deadite Linda.
* IdiotHero: Ash.
** It is plausible that he is simply BrilliantButLazy. Ash shows remarkable technical skill, leadership and general competence when he's actually forced to. This [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] more supported by the RevisedEnding where Ash is shown back at his non-demanding S-Mart job despite having the capacity to do much more with his life.
* IgnoredExpert: The wiseman in ''Army of Darkness''.
-->'''Wiseman:''' My Lord, I believe he is the one written of in the Necronomicon. He who is prophesied to fall from the Heavens and deliver us from the terrors of the Deadites.
-->'''Arthur:''' What? That buffoon? Likely he's one of Henry's men. I say to the pit with him!
* IncrediblyLamePun: Deadite Cheryl speaks in nearly nothing but these in the musical.
-->'''Cheryl''': I’ll get you, Ash! I’m like a literal Hulk Hogan... I’ll get you, brother!
-->'''Ash''': Shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': We’re like that Columbia House 'Ten CD’s for a Penny' club. Sooner or later, you’ll ''join us!''
-->'''Ash''': Shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': I’m like Dom [=DeLuise=] at an all-you-can-eat fish house. I’ll swallow your 'sole'!
-->'''Ash''': God, shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': It’ll be like you were killed by some guy whose first name happens to be Dawn, so you’ll be dead... by Dawn!
-->'''Ash''': That is ''it!''
** After having to cut off his own possessed hand, Ash sticks it to the floor with a knife, covers it with a bucket, and proceeds to stack on books [[GenreSavvy just in case it tries to escape anyway.]] The book on top? ''A Farewell To Arms''.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: In the spin-off comics Ash has become something of a crossover whore, having encountered {{Darkman}}, the Universal Monsters, Xena, Doctor Herbert West, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, the Marvel Zombies and... BarackObama.
* InsultBackfire:
--> '''Arthur''': Are all men from the future loud-mouthed braggarts?
--> '''Ash''': Nope. Just me baby... Just me.
* IronicEcho: In the first film, Ash flirtatiously peeks at Linda while pretending to be asleep, shutting his eyes when she looks back at him. After she's possessed and apparently killed, her "corpse" does the same thing to him.
* IronicNurseryTune: ''"We're going to get you, We're going to get you."''
* ItGotWorse: Pretty much the entire point of the series. Every time it look like it might either be getting better, or he might hit rock bottom, or he has any kind of fortune or misfortune whatsoever, something happens to Ash. Case in point - after surviving most of the night, killing his zombie ex-girlfriend and [[spoiler: presumably]] taking care of his own zombie hand by cutting it off, another group of people show up, think he murdered their family, and throw him in the cellar. Headfirst. Then, they listen to the ApocalypticLog and find out the old man who lived there was actually attacked by his possessed ex-wife. And he buried her in the cellar...
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ash in the sequels, especially ''Army of Darkness''.
* [[spoiler: KillEmAll:]] Everybody but Ash in [[spoiler: 1 and 2.]]
* KensingtonGore: Lots of it. The Musical is one of the few Broadway shows to include a "splatter zone" and fans have taken to wearing white t-shirts to shows to take home as bloody souvenirs.
* LampshadeHanging: The musical does quite a bit of it. It even points out the inconsistency with [[spoiler:Ash being brought back from the curse from seeing Linda's necklace... even though Linda is a Deadite now]].
* LanternJawOfJustice
* LargeHam: Rumor has it that Bruce Campbell was hospitalized for two weeks after filming "Army of Darkness" on account of the damage done to his digestive tract after eating all of that scenery.
** Deadite Cheryl in the first film is also a major one.
* LateToTheTragedy - Although Ash and his friends don't realize it at first
* LegCling The poster for "Army of Darkness"
* LickingTheBlade
* LivingLegend: Ash could have been a king. In his own way, he ''was'' king.
* LockAndLoadMontage
* LockedIntoStrangeness - It's very easy to miss, but after his penultimate confrontation with [[EldritchAbomination the big freakin' demon]] at the end of ''Evil Dead 2'', Ash gains a white/grey stripe of hair on the side of his head from fright. However, this seems to disappear in ''Army of Darkness''.
** The white stripe actually appears in his hair as a stop motion special effect when he first sees the Eldritch Horror. Easy to miss, but very cool.
* LosingYourHead: Linda in "2" and ''Evil'' Ash in "Army of Darkness".
* TheLostWoods: The setting of the first two movies once the Necronomicon's been read aloud, they also take up some of the plot during ''Army of Darkness'', as Ash rides to find the Necronomicon.
** ''Within the Woods'', a "practice" film Raimi and Co. made pre-''Evil Dead''.
* MadnessMantra: ''Evil Dead 2''
--> "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?"
* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: Ash evolves from a fairly sensitive guy into snarling comedic misanthropy over the course of the movies, though he's had one ''hell'' of a bad weekend to justify it. It probably didn't help that his allies in both the second and third movie introduced themselves by trying to kill him.
-->'''Ash''': Now I swear... the next one of you ''primates''... even ''touches'' me...
* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar; To some point, thanks to Ash's quick application of steam and gunpowder knowledge the medieval Englishmen got a chance against a vast undead army.
-->'''Ash:''' [[RousingSpeech We can take these guys, we can take them!]] [[ForScience With science]]!
* MedievalMorons: "You primitive screwheads!"
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: SPECTACULARLY averted. Of the seven people killed in the first two movies, five of them are women. The SoleSurvivor is even a man.
* MetafictionalTitle: Evil Dead was originally named Book of the Dead after the book of the same name, which appears in the movie. The name was changed because the executives didn't want people to think [[ViewersAreMorons it was a movie about a book]].
* TheMiddleAges: Setting of ''ArmyOfDarkness''
* MindControlEyes: Used straight and subverted, at a couple points the deadites go back to their host's pre-corpse state to fool Ash.
* MonochromaticEyes: On the Deadites.
* MoodWhiplash: The two sequels go from scary to hilarious and back again so quickly that your neck will hurt.
* {{Mooks}}: The titular army in Army of Darkness.
* TheMusical: The franchise gained a musical adaptation, which has appeared on Broadway.
* NamesTheSame: [[MassEffect Ashley Williams.]] Yeah it was deliberate.
-->Nothing like a nice relaxing stroll on the beach...blasting bad guys with my ''boomstick.''
* NightOfTheLivingMooks: The titular army in ''Army of Darkness''. Partially subverted in that they ''run away screaming'' when shelled with explosive arrows and bags of gunpowder.
* NippleAndDimed: There's a short, blink-and-you-miss-it moment in "Army of Darkness" where a couple of topless slave girls are herded past the camera. It may have been intended as FanService, but the fact that they're being led off to be raped by demonic undead monsters achieves the [[FanDisservice opposite]] effect, underscored by the fact that it happens while [[spoiler: Sheila is being forcibly kissed by Deadite!Ash]].
* NoBudget: The first movie (which also lead to [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19901_5-great-movie-scenes-made-possible-by-reckless-endangerment_p2.html a lot of]] EnforcedMethodActing)
* OldShame: The aforementioned tree scene covered under WhenTreesAttack.
* OrificeInvasion: Spoofed in ''Army of Darkness''. Played ''much'' more seriously in the original.
* TheOtherDarrin: The Two Other Lindas (the latter played by BridgetFonda)
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They're Sumerian demons that possess corpses and the weak-minded, turning them into monsters.
* PeekABooCorpse
* PopculturalOsmosis
* PostClimaxConfrontation: Replaced the DownerEnding of ''Army of Darkness''.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Kind of Ash's specialty...
-->'''Ash:''' Yo. She-bitch. Let's go.
-->'''Ash:''' Come to Papa.
-->'''Ash:''' Lady, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the store.
** Cranked UpToEleven in ''Fistful of Boomstick'' videogame, where Ash would spout random one-liners with a press of a button.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: [[ThisIsMyBoomstick "This... Is... My... BOOMSTICK!"]]
* RainOfBlood
* RatedMForManly: Although this is present in the second film as well, "Army of Darkness" is so manly that it can make your TV grow chest hair and a full-length beard. [[TestosteronePoisoning Some of it is definitely satirical, however.]]
* RealLifeRelative: Ted Raimi, natch, who appears in every movie in different roles. Ivan Raimi is also credited as Fake Shemp in the first and third movies (the latter of which he co-wrote).
** Bruce Campbell's father also appears in ''Army of Darkness'' as one of the soldiers that gets killed in battle.
* RedEyesTakeWarning
* RefusalOfTheCall: In ''Army of Darkness'', Ash does everything he can to avoid being the savior the people need him to be. It takes a DamselInDistress to snap him out of it.
* {{Retcon}}: In-universe example; the Book of the Dead is given the title "Naturom Demonto" in the first film, then changed to being the Necronomicon in the second film as a ShoutOut to Creator/HPLovecraft, and finally it becomes "{{Necronomicon}} [[GratuitousLatin ex Mortis]]" in ''Army of Darkness''. This last change is particularly egrerious to anyone who [[BilingualBonus understands Latin]]; it directly means "The book of the dead of the dead", though it's (understandably) more commonly translated as "The dead book of the dead" in the media, which sounds... well, still not entirely sensible, but not as outright stupid as the first translation.
** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Each film becomes more comical than the last.
* RevisedEnding: ''Army of Darkness'' originally has an CruelTwistEnding with Ash [[spoiler: waking up in post apocalyptic England after taking too much of a sleeping potion]], which was changed to a PreAssKickingOneLiner filled ending thanks to ExecutiveMeddling.
** "Hail to the King, baby!"
* RuleOfCool: Ash kills demons with a shotgun in his left hand, and a chainsaw ''as'' his right hand, all while spouting one-liners and puns that are [[SoBadItsGood so bad they're good.]]
* RuleOfFunny: Partially the driving purpose behind the two sequels.
* SatireParodyPastiche
* SawedOffShotgun
* SerialEscalation: The series begins with a college student fighting demons in an isolated cabin in the woods, and gets ''cooler from there.''
* ShakyPOVCam
* ShoutOut: Included in the cellar is a ripped poster from ''The Hills Have Eyes''. Wes Craven returned the favor by showing ''Evil Dead'' on TV in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984''. Then Raimi did it again by sticking a Freddy glove in ''Evil Dead 2''.
** A number of physical-comedy scenes from ''Army Of Darkness'' are an obvious ''TheThreeStooges'' homage.
** The haunted forest with a girl running in the darkness and attacked by possessed trees reminds a little [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White's]] dark forest sequence, exepct this time the trees are real and not part of hallucinations.
* TheSiege
* SlapSlapKiss: {{Lampshaded}} by Ash in ''Army of Darkness''.
-->'''Ash:''' First you want to kill me, now you want to kiss me. Blow.
* SlaveMooks: The first 2's deadites.
* TheSmartGuy: Annie Knowby in ''Evil Dead 2''.The creators joke in their DVD commentary that, had she been in Ash's situation from the beginning, she would have solved the whole thing in about 30 minutes.
* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: See GenreShift.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Twice in ''Evil Dead.'' Jazz music from a possessed record player when Ash is in the cellar where blood starts leaking from everything. Cheerful, big-band music also begins playing over the end credits, and then begins to... slow.
* StockShoutOuts:
** "KlaatuBaradaNikto" Taken from ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' but [[OlderThanTheyThink some just know it from this.]]
** In some of the movies the "Book of the Dead" is referred to as the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Necronomicon]] ex Mortis.
* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: the original end of ''Army''.
* StarMakingRole: Bruce Campbell is most definitely annoyed by the amount of people who ask him about ''Evil Dead IV''.
* TaxidermyTerror: The house in ''Evil Dead II'' is full of creepy stuffed trophy heads who laugh at Ash.
* TiredOfRunning: By the last fifteen minutes of each movie in the trilogy, Ash has been driven mad by the things the Evil has forced him to see and do, to the point where he is no longer scared so much as just pissed off. It is at this point he raises hell with his chainsaw and/or shotgun.
** In ''Army of Darkness'', Ash actually tells the panicking to go ahead and run if they wish.
--->"I'm staying!"
* TitleTheAdaptation: Evil Dead: The Musical!
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The "Morturom Demonto," though it becomes the "Necronomicron ex Mortis" in the sequels (after Sam Raimi learned about Creator/HPLovecraft and renamed the book as a ShoutOut). Usually shortened by characters to either "the Necronomicon" or "the Book of the Dead".
* TooDumbToLive: Cheryl, to some degree. The musical hangs a huge lampshade on this:
-->'''Cheryl:''' Now, Mother always said when you hear a strange, frightening and potentially life-threatening ghostly chant coming from the dark woods, there's only one thing that you should do: ''not go wake the others and go investigate it alone!''
* TookALevelInBadass: Ash. He starts off as a nebbish, somewhat timid college student. A few days (and two sequels) later, he's redefined the word badass.
** Bruce Campbell himself actually took a level in badass during the filming of ''Evil Dead 2'', so he could be a better fit to the shotgun-wielding chainsaw-handed king of badasses that Ash would eventually become.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Ash, in the MarvelZombies crossover, is much more willing to hit on women and general has no idea what is going on.
** But of course, [[FridgeBrilliance these weren't the zombie breed he fought against]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: In the first movie, Ash is a NiceGuy thrown into the middle of a nightmare and struggles to survive. Throughout the next two movies, his experiences lead to him becoming increasingly more snarky and obnoxious, to the point where he apathetically "helps" the local castle and refuses to help them when the deadites take the Necronomicon. TropesAreNotBad, however, as that is the version of Ash that fans remember and love.
* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Sort of. They weren't exactly peaceful to begin with, but showing them how to make gunpowder certainly was useful. Oddly enough there's another scene where he teaches them how to use ''their own'' BladeOnAStick weapons.
* TheUndead: Naturally.
* UnholyMatrimony: Bad Ash and Bad Sheila in AOD.
* UnlikelyHero: Ash in ''Army of Darkness''. Lampshaded in ''Evil Dead II''.
* VideoNasties: Probably the best known film bearing this trope.
* ViewersAreMorons: The original title for the first movie was ''The Book of the Dead''. Their agent, however, suggested they change it on the grounds that movie-goers would think they'd have to read or be uninterested in a movie with "book" in the title. TropesAreNotBad, though, as Raimi and co. grew to love the new title.
* TheWallsAreClosingIn: ''Army of Darkness'' sees Ash thrown into a pit containing a few demons that he has to fight, as well as this particular DeathTrap just to make things more exciting. He escapes by hanging onto the chain powering the closing walls as it moves up.
* WaterfallShower: Abbey and Ash take one, to wash off zombie goo, in ''DangerGirl and the ArmyOfDarkness'' #5.
* WeaponizedCar: See CoolCar above.
* WhatAnIdiot[[invoked]]: According to Campbell, Ash is a complete and utter moron who is only good at ''one'' thing. Of course, that ''one thing'' is fighting Deadites and therefore saving the world.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Annie from ''Evil Dead 2'' was written as a role for HollyHunter. Dino De Laurentis vetoed the choice as he didn't think she was beautiful enough.
** ''Army of Darkness'' was originally conceived as the ''second'' film in the series, and some trade magazines even released advertisements announcing its production (under the title of ''Evil Dead II: Evil Dead and the Army of Darkness'') in 1984. Thanks to a lowered budget and [[ExecutiveMeddling Dino de Laurentiis desiring a movie that was more like the original]], that concept was shelved in favor of the ''Evil Dead II'' we know and love. Thankfully, ''Army'' eventually got made anyway.
* WhatHappenedToMommy: Ash has a hard time convincing himself to kill his friends and girlfriend after they're possessed. Annie briefly faces this situation literally with her possessed mother.
* WhatTheHellHero: Ash messes up reciting The Words and doesn't care that he has doomed everyone.
--> '''Ash:''' Klaatu! Verata! Ni--*coughcoughcough*...OK then! That's it!
** It takes the castle getting raided, everyone turning his back on him, and his love interest kidnapped for him to snap out of it.
* WhenTreesAttack: The infamous "tree rape" scene from the original ''Evil Dead''.
** Sam Raimi has said that he wishes he could go back and re-do the movie and leave out that scene -- in fact, in ''Evil Dead II,'' the remake, the demon-possessed trees just kill their victims.
** It may be telling that the scene was co-producer Rob Tapert's idea, and that the "cast episodes" of ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''XenaWarriorPrincess'', also by Renaissance Pictures, have Bruce Campbell playing Rob as a LovableSexManiac.
* WhosLaughingNow: After taking constant abuse from his EvilHand, Ash invokes this trope (even the title word-for-word!) with the help of a nearby chainsaw.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: the English in 1300 are perfectly capable of understanding Ash's very slangy modern English, and themselves speak modern English peppered with "thee"s and "shalt"s.
----
->''"Groovy."''
to:
[[caption-width-right:265: The name's Ash. Housewares.]]
->''"The fact is that you can't hold Ash to the same standard that you hold mere mortals to. He is not only just a complete and total BadAss; [[TropeCodifier He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[RuleOfCool jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[BottomlessMagazines in rapid succession]] [[DeathFromAbove while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[CrazyAwesome he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem impossible for him to do the things that he does and kick as much ass as he is famous for doing, I assure you that it isn't. Why, you ask? Simple. [[MemeticBadass Because he's Ash]]."''
-->-- [[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/ash.html Badass of the Week]]
In 1979, a bunch of kids got together in a cabin in Tennessee and made a film with a standard BMovie plot; this film was '''''The Evil Dead'''''. The film, which was directed by SamRaimi (of ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' fame), and starred BruceCampbell (who is most associated with this series), managed to make enough money to warrant two sequels and get into the public consciousness. The result of the two sequels was a strange blend where NarmCharm meets RuleOfCool.
The first film's story follows a bunch of kids who get together in a cabin in Tennessee and play a tape recorded recitation from a demonic book of the dead (the {{Necronomicon}}) -- which leads to each of them becoming possessed and attacking the others. ''Evil Dead 2's'' plot was '''seemingly''' a rehash of the prior film with some rewrites; only Ashley J. Williams (Campbell) and Ash's girlfriend Linda go to the cabin, and the ending leads straight into ''Army of Darkness''. The plot of the first film wasn't actually retconned, though -- due to copyright issues, Raimi was unable to use scenes from the first movie, which forced him to shoot a new recap (ignoring said recap makes ''Evil Dead 2'' a direct sequel).
''Army of Darkness'' is the most well-known (and quoted) film of the trilogy. Ash is transported back to Medieval Europe, where he finds out he can return to his own time -- if he can retrieve the Necronomicon first. Ash manages to find the book, but when he inevitably [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screws up]] the retrieval, he's forced to train and help the [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers not-quite peaceful villagers]] he's placed in the path of an Army of Darkness.
The third film catapulted Ash into pop culture popularity; there are four videogames, tons of comic book adaptions (including {{crossover}}s with [[MarvelComics Marvel Zombies]] and [[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]], as well as ''FreddyVsJasonVsAsh''), a RolePlayingGame under the Unisystem umbrella, and '''[[http://www.evildeadthemusical.com/ a Broadway musical]]''' all based on Ash and the ''Evil Dead'' trilogy.
[[http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/07/13/sam-raimi-and-bruce-campbell-gear-up-for-evil-dead-remake/ A remake of the first movie]] is in pre-production; Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Bruce Campbell are producers, while Diablo Cody is revising the script. Fede Alvarez, director of the short film ''Panic Attack!'', will be directing the remake. Jane Levy of ''{{Suburgatory}}'' fame has been cast as Mia, the remake's {{Expy}} of Ash.
----
!! Films in this series:
* ''The Evil Dead'' (1981)
* ''Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn'' (1987)
* ''Army of Darkness'' (1992)
!! Video games in this series:
* ''The Evil Dead'' (1984)
* ''Evil Dead: Hail to the King'' (2000)
* ''Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick'' (2003)
* ''Evil Dead: Regeneration'' (2005)
!![[TropeNamer Tropes This Franchise Named]]:
* FakeShemp: During filming of ''The Evil Dead'', any castmember that wasn't Bruce Campbell eventually left due to various circumstances. To finish the movie, stand-ins were utilized wherever possible (sometimes quite noticeably, sometimes not) and these people were credited as this. Sam Raimi himself coined the term, inspired by the ThreeStooges. The term became a fixture of later Raimi-related productions.
* ThisIsMyBoomstick
----
!!Included:
* AshcanCopy: ''Within the Woods,'' a short film made primarily to get the first true ''EvilDead'' film financed.
* {{Angrish}}: Ash has a tendency to babble and scream incoherently when frightened or enraged.
* AnimateDead: what happens when you remove the book. There's a spell to disable that, but Ash mispronounces it; HilarityEnsues.
* ApocalypticLog: The source of the entire mess.
* ArmCannon - Literally, in the games.
* ArrowCam - A favorite of Raimi.
* ArtificialLimbs: When his hand is chopped off, Ash replaces it ''with a chainsaw.'' Later, he replaces that with a [[BambooTechnology clockwork gauntlet]].
** And in the extended media beyond the films, he'll frequently swap out his gauntlet with the saw (for example, in ''A Fistful of Boomstick'', he can switch the chainsaw out with a flamethrower and a [[MoreDakka Gatling gun]]).
* AxCrazy: How Ash copes with the events of the first two movies. By the third, he's turned it into CrazyAwesome.
* BadassNormal: Ash goes up against demons from hell, medieval knights, the undead and his own mutated friends with no training, preparation or backup, and ''still'' manages to kick ass and take names.
* [[BannedInChina Banned in]] [[strike:[[BannedInChina China]]]] [[BannedInChina Britain]]: It was one of the "VideoNasties" that got Mary Whitehouse's knickers in a twist. It was more to do with the title than the content; titles with stuff like "Evil" and "Dead" were banned in a knee-jerk reaction (although the [[CrossesTheLineTwice tree rape scene]] didn't do it any favors).
* BarrierBustingBlow - Several times across the films, but hilariously subverted in Army of Darkness, where Ash keeps screaming goofily until he notices the monster's stopped trying to get in.
* BBCQuarry: It wasn't shot in England (though the story does take place there), but Ash's arrival in the Middle Ages at the end of ''Evil Dead 2'' was filmed at a very similar-looking North Carolina rock quarry.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Mocked.
--> '''Deadite Sheila:''' "You found me beautiful once."
--> '''Ash:''' "Honey, you got ''reeaaaal'' ugly."
** Played straight with Ash himself, who only ever gets superficial injuries to his face that just make him seem more handsome. By the third film, his costume is a walking ShirtlessScene. There is a scene in the first film where he gets covered from head to toe in blood; a second later his face is completely clean, and the only thing the blood did was make his shirt cling to his chest in a fanservice-y way
* BigNo: Ash, repeatedly, but especially at [[spoiler:the alternate end of the third film.]]
* BilingualBonus: Trilingual? Necronomicon ex Mortis. The first bit means "Book of the Dead" in Greek, and the second is "from/by the Dead" in Latin.
** lets not forget its the sumerian book of the dead
* BlackAndGrayMorality: Lampshaded in ''Army of Darkness''.
--> '''Good Ash:''' [shoulders his sawn-off] Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
** Better one in the [[ReCut Director's Cut]]:
--> '''Good Ash:''' [same as above] I ain't ''that'' good.
* BlackBlood: Along with all sorts of liquids the production staff used as blood, mostly to avoid an X-rating...
** And [[spoiler: the possessed Shelly]] bleeds white blood whilst [[spoiler: faking her death throes]].
* BlandNameProduct: "Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart!"
** "YA GOT THAT!?"
* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Variant in ''Army of Darkness'', where Ash blasts a sword [[WreckedWeapon in half]].
* BlatantLies: Jake's song in the musical. He claims to have won an Oscar for directing ''{{Platoon}}'', written JackieChan's autobiography, and coined the phrase "fo shizzle, my nizzle!"
* BloodyHilarious: The second movie.
* BMovie: Definitely among the most famous {{B Movie}}s ever.
* BodyHorror: Begins fairly early in the first movie and goes downhill from there. Highlights include a snake-like neck and a breakneck ballet in the second film.
* BondOneLiner: Many. But here's one anyway:
-->'''Good Ash:''' (fires shotgun up Evil Ash's nose) Good, Bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
* BottomlessMagazines: At one point, Ash fires his double barreled shotgun at least three times in quick succession, far faster than someone with only one hand can reload. There's also the lever action rifle in ''Army of Darkness'' which he fires about 30 times without reloading. And then there's the bottomless gas tank for the chainsaw.
* ButtMonkey: {{Badass}} he may be, but Ash is still this quite often.
* ByronicHero: Ash has too many character flaws to count. Fortunately, [[TheDeterminator giving up is not one of them.]]
* CaliforniaDoubling: ''Army of Darkness'' takes place in medieval England, but it's pretty obviously filmed in Bronson Canyon and [[KirksRock Vasquez Rocks]]. Bruce Campbell has a lot of fun ribbing Sam Raimi about it in their DVD commentary. Notably averted in the first two movies, which really were filmed in the Appalachian forest (much to the chagrin of the Michigan-based cast and crew, especially during the first movie).
* TheCameo: Hinted at by ''the tape'' in the original ''Evil Dead'': "''Saman sa'rob dar ees haikar dande roza''", this being derived from "Sam [Raimi] and Rob [Tapert] are hitchhikers on the road." Sure enough, if you paid attention five minutes into the film, Scott drove the Olds past a pair of idiotic-looking hitchhikers in fishing gear, both of whom turn to wave as the car sped by.
* CatchPhrase: '' I'll swallow your soul''.
* TheCavalry: Henry the Red and his peoples.
* CanonDisContinuity: ''Evil Dead'' and ''Evil Dead 2'' have a few differences, plotwise. The number of people headed to the cabin are different (five in the original, two in the sequel). However, this is a result of Sam Raimi not having the rights to show clips from the first movie. So he decided to recap the first film in abbreviated form instead, then continuing from the very end of the first [[spoiler: where Ash gets run into by the Evil-cam]].
** Sam Raimi explains in the ''Evil Dead 2'' commentary that you can attach the Evil Dead 2 scene with Ash being attacked at daybreak to the first movie's ending, then remove Ash's arrival in medieval times from ''Evil Dead 2'', and then attach Ash's arrival from ''Army of Darkness'' onto it instead, and you'll have the single-continuity storyline he envisioned. He also said he feels sorry for anyone who'd sit through the resulting 6-hour movie (though many fans might disagree).
* [[SwordAndGun Chainsaw And Shotgun]]
* ChainsawGood: Probably one of the most iconic examples in media.
* TheChewToy: Ash just can't get a break. The original ending of the third movie would have taken this UpToEleven.
* TheChosenOne: Technically, the "Promised One". Also mixed with a little ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Ash's tying down of Bad Ash so he can properly chop him up with the chainsaw. There is, however, no gloating.
** Really, it was more about preventing Bad Ash from hindering him down the road (and a reference to the first movie), but it's quite likely that Ash enjoyed having a Deadite at his mercy (or lack thereof).
* CoolCar: Sam Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile is Ash's in the series. Even the car TookALevelInBadass in ''Army of Darkness'', when it is turned into a [[SteamPunk war machine]].
* DaylightHorror: The ending to the first movie. A few scares at the beginning too.
* DanceSensation: ''[[TheMusical Dooo the Necronomicon.]] [[EarWorm The Necronomicon.]]''
* [[spoiler: DeadlyRotaryFan]]: Taken UpToEleven with the aforementioned CoolCar's combat refit.
* DeadpanSnarker: Played straight in "Army of Darkness." Ash finds plenty of opportunities to snark about medieval culture and action-adventure tropes.
** Ash gets some moments in the first two movies, too.
--->'''Linda''': Hey Ash, I guessed the card right!
--->'''Ash''' (distracted): Yeah, truly amazing.
* DemBones: Most of the eponymous Army raised by Evil Ash/the Necronomicon in ''Army of Darkness''.
* DecoyProtagonist: Early in the first movie, Scott seems to be the hero while Ash is next to useless. This quickly changes.
* DemonicPossession: Pretty much the whole plot of the first two movies. [[spoiler: Sheila in the third.]]
* DescriptionPorn: From ''Army of Darkness'', Ash introducing his boomstick.
* DirtyCoward: Scott in the first movie. Played with in the sequels with Ash, where he seemingly acts like a coward, but he either really isn't or just mans up.
* DodgeThis: "Swallow this." * BOOM! *
* {{Earworm}}: Almost every song in the musical. "Cabin in the Woods," "All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed By Candarian Demons," and "What the Fuck Was That?" come to mind...
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The original ending of ''Army of Darkness''. The exact opposite of the theatrical version.]]
** Not that the first two movies had very happy endings themselves, Evil Dead II less so than the first.
* DungAges: ''Army of Darkness'', and results in Ash being a jerk to everyone in the beginning.
* EnemyWithout
* EverybodysDeadDave: [[spoiler: Including your own hand.]]
** AND they're comin' back to getcha!
* EvilHand
* EvilIsHammy: The Deadites in the first movie and Evil Ash in ''Army of Darkness''.
* EvilLaugh: The Deadites love doing this.
* EvilTwin: The twin from ''Army of Darkness'' that Ash ends up fighting.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The entire trilogy takes place in about a week, going by Ash's perspective.
* EyePoke: Ash gets a number of these in the cemetery scene.
* EyeScream
* FateWorseThanDeath: Assuming you trust the source, the second movie alludes to possession and death being the least of victims' problems in this series:
-->"Even now we have your darling Linda's soul. She suffers in torment."
* FinalGirl: Um...Guy, although with something of a GenderBlenderName. This "twist" was actually commented on by film studies, and it's now a bit cooler for guys to have this name.
* FlyAtTheCameraEnding: Inverted. The camera flies at BruceCampbell at the end.
* ForgingScene: "Groovy".
* ForTheEvulz: Pretty much the Deadites' only motivation for doing anything.
* FridgeLogic: Brought up in the commentary for ''Army of Darkness''. [[invoked]]
--> '''Sam Raimi:''' How come your hand's still stuck in there even though it's chopped off?
--> '''Bruce Campbell:''' It's 'cause the director told me to.
* GenderBlenderName: Who'd have thought that one of the most significant BadAss characters of the Eighties would be named Ashley?
* GeniusDitz: Ash may be a total cartoon character (when he's not being a badass), but he's still able to effortlessly create a fully-articulated [[spoiler:prosthetic hand]] for himself, synthesize gunpowder and explosive materials using only found natural resources and the Chemistry textbooks in the trunk of his car, and then turn said car into a whirling, bladed death machine. As he puts it:
-->'''Ash:''' With SCIENCE!
* GenreSavvy: Ash knows that just because a Deadite is down, doesn't mean it's dead. However, he learns this through hard experience, not pre-thought wisdom.
-->'''Ash''': "It's a trick. Get an axe."
* GenreShift: The first movie is a more-or-less straightforward horror film. ''Evil Dead 2'' is a strange hybrid of gory, serious horror, and slapstick comedy. ''Army of Darkness'' drops almost all the horror and works instead as an action-comedy. This is surprisingly ''not'' an example of ExecutiveMeddling, as creator Sam Raimi helmed all three films, and the progression from horror to comedy was his own idea.
** The shift is also very effective in showing Ash's descent into madness.
* {{Gorn}}: The second and third film cranked up the gore, with the second having a near-flooding of the cabin floor with orange blood from a decapitation, and the third having a ''geyser'' of blood.
* GoryDiscretionShot: In the second movie, just as Ash is about to use the chainsaw on [[spoiler:Deadite Linda]]'s head, this trope is invoked - showing blood splattering on the walls and shadows rather than the actual act. The DVD commentary points out the irony of this.
-->"Why are you not showing that part? You've shown everything else."
* GunsAkimbo
* GroinAttack
* HauntedHeadquarters: The cabin in the woods.
* HelpingHands
* HeroOfAnotherStory: According to the recordings, Professor Knowby had his own share of Deadite troubles before Ash got anywhere near the cabin.
* HighPressureBlood
* TheHyena: Deadite Linda.
* IdiotHero: Ash.
** It is plausible that he is simply BrilliantButLazy. Ash shows remarkable technical skill, leadership and general competence when he's actually forced to. This [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] more supported by the RevisedEnding where Ash is shown back at his non-demanding S-Mart job despite having the capacity to do much more with his life.
* IgnoredExpert: The wiseman in ''Army of Darkness''.
-->'''Wiseman:''' My Lord, I believe he is the one written of in the Necronomicon. He who is prophesied to fall from the Heavens and deliver us from the terrors of the Deadites.
-->'''Arthur:''' What? That buffoon? Likely he's one of Henry's men. I say to the pit with him!
* IncrediblyLamePun: Deadite Cheryl speaks in nearly nothing but these in the musical.
-->'''Cheryl''': I’ll get you, Ash! I’m like a literal Hulk Hogan... I’ll get you, brother!
-->'''Ash''': Shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': We’re like that Columbia House 'Ten CD’s for a Penny' club. Sooner or later, you’ll ''join us!''
-->'''Ash''': Shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': I’m like Dom [=DeLuise=] at an all-you-can-eat fish house. I’ll swallow your 'sole'!
-->'''Ash''': God, shut up!
-->'''Cheryl''': It’ll be like you were killed by some guy whose first name happens to be Dawn, so you’ll be dead... by Dawn!
-->'''Ash''': That is ''it!''
** After having to cut off his own possessed hand, Ash sticks it to the floor with a knife, covers it with a bucket, and proceeds to stack on books [[GenreSavvy just in case it tries to escape anyway.]] The book on top? ''A Farewell To Arms''.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: In the spin-off comics Ash has become something of a crossover whore, having encountered {{Darkman}}, the Universal Monsters, Xena, Doctor Herbert West, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, the Marvel Zombies and... BarackObama.
* InsultBackfire:
--> '''Arthur''': Are all men from the future loud-mouthed braggarts?
--> '''Ash''': Nope. Just me baby... Just me.
* IronicEcho: In the first film, Ash flirtatiously peeks at Linda while pretending to be asleep, shutting his eyes when she looks back at him. After she's possessed and apparently killed, her "corpse" does the same thing to him.
* IronicNurseryTune: ''"We're going to get you, We're going to get you."''
* ItGotWorse: Pretty much the entire point of the series. Every time it look like it might either be getting better, or he might hit rock bottom, or he has any kind of fortune or misfortune whatsoever, something happens to Ash. Case in point - after surviving most of the night, killing his zombie ex-girlfriend and [[spoiler: presumably]] taking care of his own zombie hand by cutting it off, another group of people show up, think he murdered their family, and throw him in the cellar. Headfirst. Then, they listen to the ApocalypticLog and find out the old man who lived there was actually attacked by his possessed ex-wife. And he buried her in the cellar...
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ash in the sequels, especially ''Army of Darkness''.
* [[spoiler: KillEmAll:]] Everybody but Ash in [[spoiler: 1 and 2.]]
* KensingtonGore: Lots of it. The Musical is one of the few Broadway shows to include a "splatter zone" and fans have taken to wearing white t-shirts to shows to take home as bloody souvenirs.
* LampshadeHanging: The musical does quite a bit of it. It even points out the inconsistency with [[spoiler:Ash being brought back from the curse from seeing Linda's necklace... even though Linda is a Deadite now]].
* LanternJawOfJustice
* LargeHam: Rumor has it that Bruce Campbell was hospitalized for two weeks after filming "Army of Darkness" on account of the damage done to his digestive tract after eating all of that scenery.
** Deadite Cheryl in the first film is also a major one.
* LateToTheTragedy - Although Ash and his friends don't realize it at first
* LegCling The poster for "Army of Darkness"
* LickingTheBlade
* LivingLegend: Ash could have been a king. In his own way, he ''was'' king.
* LockAndLoadMontage
* LockedIntoStrangeness - It's very easy to miss, but after his penultimate confrontation with [[EldritchAbomination the big freakin' demon]] at the end of ''Evil Dead 2'', Ash gains a white/grey stripe of hair on the side of his head from fright. However, this seems to disappear in ''Army of Darkness''.
** The white stripe actually appears in his hair as a stop motion special effect when he first sees the Eldritch Horror. Easy to miss, but very cool.
* LosingYourHead: Linda in "2" and ''Evil'' Ash in "Army of Darkness".
* TheLostWoods: The setting of the first two movies once the Necronomicon's been read aloud, they also take up some of the plot during ''Army of Darkness'', as Ash rides to find the Necronomicon.
** ''Within the Woods'', a "practice" film Raimi and Co. made pre-''Evil Dead''.
* MadnessMantra: ''Evil Dead 2''
--> "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?"
* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: Ash evolves from a fairly sensitive guy into snarling comedic misanthropy over the course of the movies, though he's had one ''hell'' of a bad weekend to justify it. It probably didn't help that his allies in both the second and third movie introduced themselves by trying to kill him.
-->'''Ash''': Now I swear... the next one of you ''primates''... even ''touches'' me...
* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar; To some point, thanks to Ash's quick application of steam and gunpowder knowledge the medieval Englishmen got a chance against a vast undead army.
-->'''Ash:''' [[RousingSpeech We can take these guys, we can take them!]] [[ForScience With science]]!
* MedievalMorons: "You primitive screwheads!"
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: SPECTACULARLY averted. Of the seven people killed in the first two movies, five of them are women. The SoleSurvivor is even a man.
* MetafictionalTitle: Evil Dead was originally named Book of the Dead after the book of the same name, which appears in the movie. The name was changed because the executives didn't want people to think [[ViewersAreMorons it was a movie about a book]].
* TheMiddleAges: Setting of ''ArmyOfDarkness''
* MindControlEyes: Used straight and subverted, at a couple points the deadites go back to their host's pre-corpse state to fool Ash.
* MonochromaticEyes: On the Deadites.
* MoodWhiplash: The two sequels go from scary to hilarious and back again so quickly that your neck will hurt.
* {{Mooks}}: The titular army in Army of Darkness.
* TheMusical: The franchise gained a musical adaptation, which has appeared on Broadway.
* NamesTheSame: [[MassEffect Ashley Williams.]] Yeah it was deliberate.
-->Nothing like a nice relaxing stroll on the beach...blasting bad guys with my ''boomstick.''
* NightOfTheLivingMooks: The titular army in ''Army of Darkness''. Partially subverted in that they ''run away screaming'' when shelled with explosive arrows and bags of gunpowder.
* NippleAndDimed: There's a short, blink-and-you-miss-it moment in "Army of Darkness" where a couple of topless slave girls are herded past the camera. It may have been intended as FanService, but the fact that they're being led off to be raped by demonic undead monsters achieves the [[FanDisservice opposite]] effect, underscored by the fact that it happens while [[spoiler: Sheila is being forcibly kissed by Deadite!Ash]].
* NoBudget: The first movie (which also lead to [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19901_5-great-movie-scenes-made-possible-by-reckless-endangerment_p2.html a lot of]] EnforcedMethodActing)
* OldShame: The aforementioned tree scene covered under WhenTreesAttack.
* OrificeInvasion: Spoofed in ''Army of Darkness''. Played ''much'' more seriously in the original.
* TheOtherDarrin: The Two Other Lindas (the latter played by BridgetFonda)
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: They're Sumerian demons that possess corpses and the weak-minded, turning them into monsters.
* PeekABooCorpse
* PopculturalOsmosis
* PostClimaxConfrontation: Replaced the DownerEnding of ''Army of Darkness''.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Kind of Ash's specialty...
-->'''Ash:''' Yo. She-bitch. Let's go.
-->'''Ash:''' Come to Papa.
-->'''Ash:''' Lady, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the store.
** Cranked UpToEleven in ''Fistful of Boomstick'' videogame, where Ash would spout random one-liners with a press of a button.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: [[ThisIsMyBoomstick "This... Is... My... BOOMSTICK!"]]
* RainOfBlood
* RatedMForManly: Although this is present in the second film as well, "Army of Darkness" is so manly that it can make your TV grow chest hair and a full-length beard. [[TestosteronePoisoning Some of it is definitely satirical, however.]]
* RealLifeRelative: Ted Raimi, natch, who appears in every movie in different roles. Ivan Raimi is also credited as Fake Shemp in the first and third movies (the latter of which he co-wrote).
** Bruce Campbell's father also appears in ''Army of Darkness'' as one of the soldiers that gets killed in battle.
* RedEyesTakeWarning
* RefusalOfTheCall: In ''Army of Darkness'', Ash does everything he can to avoid being the savior the people need him to be. It takes a DamselInDistress to snap him out of it.
* {{Retcon}}: In-universe example; the Book of the Dead is given the title "Naturom Demonto" in the first film, then changed to being the Necronomicon in the second film as a ShoutOut to Creator/HPLovecraft, and finally it becomes "{{Necronomicon}} [[GratuitousLatin ex Mortis]]" in ''Army of Darkness''. This last change is particularly egrerious to anyone who [[BilingualBonus understands Latin]]; it directly means "The book of the dead of the dead", though it's (understandably) more commonly translated as "The dead book of the dead" in the media, which sounds... well, still not entirely sensible, but not as outright stupid as the first translation.
** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Each film becomes more comical than the last.
* RevisedEnding: ''Army of Darkness'' originally has an CruelTwistEnding with Ash [[spoiler: waking up in post apocalyptic England after taking too much of a sleeping potion]], which was changed to a PreAssKickingOneLiner filled ending thanks to ExecutiveMeddling.
** "Hail to the King, baby!"
* RuleOfCool: Ash kills demons with a shotgun in his left hand, and a chainsaw ''as'' his right hand, all while spouting one-liners and puns that are [[SoBadItsGood so bad they're good.]]
* RuleOfFunny: Partially the driving purpose behind the two sequels.
* SatireParodyPastiche
* SawedOffShotgun
* SerialEscalation: The series begins with a college student fighting demons in an isolated cabin in the woods, and gets ''cooler from there.''
* ShakyPOVCam
* ShoutOut: Included in the cellar is a ripped poster from ''The Hills Have Eyes''. Wes Craven returned the favor by showing ''Evil Dead'' on TV in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984''. Then Raimi did it again by sticking a Freddy glove in ''Evil Dead 2''.
** A number of physical-comedy scenes from ''Army Of Darkness'' are an obvious ''TheThreeStooges'' homage.
** The haunted forest with a girl running in the darkness and attacked by possessed trees reminds a little [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White's]] dark forest sequence, exepct this time the trees are real and not part of hallucinations.
* TheSiege
* SlapSlapKiss: {{Lampshaded}} by Ash in ''Army of Darkness''.
-->'''Ash:''' First you want to kill me, now you want to kiss me. Blow.
* SlaveMooks: The first 2's deadites.
* TheSmartGuy: Annie Knowby in ''Evil Dead 2''.The creators joke in their DVD commentary that, had she been in Ash's situation from the beginning, she would have solved the whole thing in about 30 minutes.
* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: See GenreShift.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Twice in ''Evil Dead.'' Jazz music from a possessed record player when Ash is in the cellar where blood starts leaking from everything. Cheerful, big-band music also begins playing over the end credits, and then begins to... slow.
* StockShoutOuts:
** "KlaatuBaradaNikto" Taken from ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' but [[OlderThanTheyThink some just know it from this.]]
** In some of the movies the "Book of the Dead" is referred to as the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Necronomicon]] ex Mortis.
* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: the original end of ''Army''.
* StarMakingRole: Bruce Campbell is most definitely annoyed by the amount of people who ask him about ''Evil Dead IV''.
* TaxidermyTerror: The house in ''Evil Dead II'' is full of creepy stuffed trophy heads who laugh at Ash.
* TiredOfRunning: By the last fifteen minutes of each movie in the trilogy, Ash has been driven mad by the things the Evil has forced him to see and do, to the point where he is no longer scared so much as just pissed off. It is at this point he raises hell with his chainsaw and/or shotgun.
** In ''Army of Darkness'', Ash actually tells the panicking to go ahead and run if they wish.
--->"I'm staying!"
* TitleTheAdaptation: Evil Dead: The Musical!
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The "Morturom Demonto," though it becomes the "Necronomicron ex Mortis" in the sequels (after Sam Raimi learned about Creator/HPLovecraft and renamed the book as a ShoutOut). Usually shortened by characters to either "the Necronomicon" or "the Book of the Dead".
* TooDumbToLive: Cheryl, to some degree. The musical hangs a huge lampshade on this:
-->'''Cheryl:''' Now, Mother always said when you hear a strange, frightening and potentially life-threatening ghostly chant coming from the dark woods, there's only one thing that you should do: ''not go wake the others and go investigate it alone!''
* TookALevelInBadass: Ash. He starts off as a nebbish, somewhat timid college student. A few days (and two sequels) later, he's redefined the word badass.
** Bruce Campbell himself actually took a level in badass during the filming of ''Evil Dead 2'', so he could be a better fit to the shotgun-wielding chainsaw-handed king of badasses that Ash would eventually become.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Ash, in the MarvelZombies crossover, is much more willing to hit on women and general has no idea what is going on.
** But of course, [[FridgeBrilliance these weren't the zombie breed he fought against]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: In the first movie, Ash is a NiceGuy thrown into the middle of a nightmare and struggles to survive. Throughout the next two movies, his experiences lead to him becoming increasingly more snarky and obnoxious, to the point where he apathetically "helps" the local castle and refuses to help them when the deadites take the Necronomicon. TropesAreNotBad, however, as that is the version of Ash that fans remember and love.
* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Sort of. They weren't exactly peaceful to begin with, but showing them how to make gunpowder certainly was useful. Oddly enough there's another scene where he teaches them how to use ''their own'' BladeOnAStick weapons.
* TheUndead: Naturally.
* UnholyMatrimony: Bad Ash and Bad Sheila in AOD.
* UnlikelyHero: Ash in ''Army of Darkness''. Lampshaded in ''Evil Dead II''.
* VideoNasties: Probably the best known film bearing this trope.
* ViewersAreMorons: The original title for the first movie was ''The Book of the Dead''. Their agent, however, suggested they change it on the grounds that movie-goers would think they'd have to read or be uninterested in a movie with "book" in the title. TropesAreNotBad, though, as Raimi and co. grew to love the new title.
* TheWallsAreClosingIn: ''Army of Darkness'' sees Ash thrown into a pit containing a few demons that he has to fight, as well as this particular DeathTrap just to make things more exciting. He escapes by hanging onto the chain powering the closing walls as it moves up.
* WaterfallShower: Abbey and Ash take one, to wash off zombie goo, in ''DangerGirl and the ArmyOfDarkness'' #5.
* WeaponizedCar: See CoolCar above.
* WhatAnIdiot[[invoked]]: According to Campbell, Ash is a complete and utter moron who is only good at ''one'' thing. Of course, that ''one thing'' is fighting Deadites and therefore saving the world.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Annie from ''Evil Dead 2'' was written as a role for HollyHunter. Dino De Laurentis vetoed the choice as he didn't think she was beautiful enough.
** ''Army of Darkness'' was originally conceived as the ''second'' film in the series, and some trade magazines even released advertisements announcing its production (under the title of ''Evil Dead II: Evil Dead and the Army of Darkness'') in 1984. Thanks to a lowered budget and [[ExecutiveMeddling Dino de Laurentiis desiring a movie that was more like the original]], that concept was shelved in favor of the ''Evil Dead II'' we know and love. Thankfully, ''Army'' eventually got made anyway.
* WhatHappenedToMommy: Ash has a hard time convincing himself to kill his friends and girlfriend after they're possessed. Annie briefly faces this situation literally with her possessed mother.
* WhatTheHellHero: Ash messes up reciting The Words and doesn't care that he has doomed everyone.
--> '''Ash:''' Klaatu! Verata! Ni--*coughcoughcough*...OK then! That's it!
** It takes the castle getting raided, everyone turning his back on him, and his love interest kidnapped for him to snap out of it.
* WhenTreesAttack: The infamous "tree rape" scene from the original ''Evil Dead''.
** Sam Raimi has said that he wishes he could go back and re-do the movie and leave out that scene -- in fact, in ''Evil Dead II,'' the remake, the demon-possessed trees just kill their victims.
** It may be telling that the scene was co-producer Rob Tapert's idea, and that the "cast episodes" of ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''XenaWarriorPrincess'', also by Renaissance Pictures, have Bruce Campbell playing Rob as a LovableSexManiac.
* WhosLaughingNow: After taking constant abuse from his EvilHand, Ash invokes this trope (even the title word-for-word!) with the help of a nearby chainsaw.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: the English in 1300 are perfectly capable of understanding Ash's very slangy modern English, and themselves speak modern English peppered with "thee"s and "shalt"s.
----
->''"Groovy."''
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* ByronicHero: Ash has too many character flaws to count. Fortunately, [[TheDeterminator giving up is not one of them.]]
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* RefusalOfTheCall: In ''Army of Darkness'', Ash does everything he can to avoid being the savior the people need him to be. It takes a DamselInDistress to snap him out of it.
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* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Each film becomes more comical than the last.
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* ShoutOut: Included in the cellar is a ripped poster from ''The Hills Have Eyes''. Wes Craven returned the favor by showing ''Evil Dead'' on TV in ''ANightmareOnElmStreet''. Then Raimi did it again by sticking a Freddy glove in ''Evil Dead 2''.
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* ShoutOut: Included in the cellar is a ripped poster from ''The Hills Have Eyes''. Wes Craven returned the favor by showing ''Evil Dead'' on TV in ''ANightmareOnElmStreet''.''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984''. Then Raimi did it again by sticking a Freddy glove in ''Evil Dead 2''.
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* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Variant in ''Army of Darkness'', where Ash blasts a sword [[WreckedWeapon in half]].
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** But of course, [[FridgeBrillance these weren't the zombie breed he fought against]].
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** But of course, [[FridgeBrillance [[FridgeBrilliance these weren't the zombie breed he fought against]].
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** But of course, [[FridgeBrillance these weren't the zombie breed he fought against]].
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** ''Army of Darkness'' was originally conceived as the ''second'' film in the series, and some trade magazines even released advertisements announcing its production (under the title of ''Evil Dead II: Evil Dead and the Army of Darkness'') in 1984. Thanks to a lowered budget and [[ExecutiveMeddling Dino de Laurentiis desiring a movie that was more like the original]], that concept was shelved in favor of the ''Evil Dead II'' we know and love. Thankfully, ''Army'' eventually got made anyway.
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* WhatAnIdiot[[invoked]]: According to Campbell, Ash is a complete and utter moron who is only good at ''one'' thing. Of course, that ''one thing'' is fighting Deadites and therefore saving the world.
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->''"The fact is that you can't hold Ash to the same standard that you hold mere mortals to. He is not only just a complete and total [[BadAss badass]]; [[TropeCodifier He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[RuleOfCool jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[BottomlessMagazines in rapid succession]] [[DeathFromAbove while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[CrazyAwesome he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem impossible for him to do the things that he does and kick as much ass as he is famous for doing, I assure you that it isn't. Why, you ask? Simple. [[MemeticBadass Because he's Ash]]."''
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->''"The fact is that you can't hold Ash to the same standard that you hold mere mortals to. He is not only just a complete and total [[BadAss badass]]; BadAss; [[TropeCodifier He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[RuleOfCool jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[BottomlessMagazines in rapid succession]] [[DeathFromAbove while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[CrazyAwesome he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem impossible for him to do the things that he does and kick as much ass as he is famous for doing, I assure you that it isn't. Why, you ask? Simple. [[MemeticBadass Because he's Ash]]."''
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In 1979, a bunch of kids got together in a cabin in Tennessee and made a film with a standard BMovie plot; this film was '''''The Evil Dead'''''. The film, which was directed by SamRaimi (of ''{{Film/Spider-Man}}'' fame), and starred BruceCampbell (who is most associated with this series), managed to make enough money to warrant two sequels and get into the public consciousness. The result of the two sequels was a strange blend where {{Narm Charm}} meets RuleOfCool.
to:
In 1979, a bunch of kids got together in a cabin in Tennessee and made a film with a standard BMovie plot; this film was '''''The Evil Dead'''''. The film, which was directed by SamRaimi (of ''{{Film/Spider-Man}}'' ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' fame), and starred BruceCampbell (who is most associated with this series), managed to make enough money to warrant two sequels and get into the public consciousness. The result of the two sequels was a strange blend where {{Narm Charm}} NarmCharm meets RuleOfCool.
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* ApocalypticLog: The source of the entire mess.
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* ApocalypticLog: The source of the entire mess.
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* AxCrazy: How Ash copes with the events of the first two movies. By the third, he's turned it into CrazyAwesome.
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* AxCrazy: How Ash copes with the events of the first two movies. By the third, he's turned it into CrazyAwesome.
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--> '''Ash:''' "Honey, you got ''reeaaaal'' ugly."
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--> '''Ash:''' "Honey, you got ''reeaaaal'' ugly." "
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--> '''Good Ash:''' [shoulders his sawn-off] Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
to:
--> '''Good Ash:''' [shoulders his sawn-off] Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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* {{Decoy Protagonist}}: Early in the first movie, Scott seems to be the hero while Ash is next to useless. This quickly changes.
to:
* {{Decoy Protagonist}}: DecoyProtagonist: Early in the first movie, Scott seems to be the hero while Ash is next to useless. This quickly changes.
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* DodgeThis: "Swallow this." * BOOM! *
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* DodgeThis: "Swallow this." * BOOM! * *
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* GoryDiscretionShot: In the second movie, just as Ash is about to use the chainsaw on [[spoiler:Deadite Linda's]] head, this trope is invoked - showing blood splattering on the walls and shadows rather than the actual act. The DVD commentary points out the irony of this.
to:
* GoryDiscretionShot: In the second movie, just as Ash is about to use the chainsaw on [[spoiler:Deadite Linda's]] Linda]]'s head, this trope is invoked - showing blood splattering on the walls and shadows rather than the actual act. The DVD commentary points out the irony of this.
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-->'''Arthur:''' What? That buffoon? Likely he's one of Henry's men. I say to the pit with him!
to:
-->'''Arthur:''' What? That buffoon? Likely he's one of Henry's men. I say to the pit with him! him!
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--> '''Ash''': Nope. Just me baby... Just me.
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--> '''Ash''': Nope. Just me baby... Just me.
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* KensingtonGore: Lots of it. The Musical is one of the few Broadway shows to include a "splatter zone" and fans have taken to wearing white t-shirts to shows to take home as bloody souvenirs.
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* KensingtonGore: Lots of it. The Musical is one of the few Broadway shows to include a "splatter zone" and fans have taken to wearing white t-shirts to shows to take home as bloody souvenirs.
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** Deadite Cheryl in the first film is also a major one.
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** Deadite Cheryl in the first film is also a major one.
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** ''Within the Woods'', a "practice" film Raimi and Co. made pre-''Evil Dead''.
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** ''Within the Woods'', a "practice" film Raimi and Co. made pre-''Evil Dead''.
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* TheMusical: The franchise gained a musical adaptation, which has appeared on Broadway.
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* TheMusical: The franchise gained a musical adaptation, which has appeared on Broadway.
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* RatedMForManly: Although this is present in the second film as well, "Army of Darkness" is so manly that it can make your TV grow chest hair and a full-length beard. [[TestosteronePoisoning Some of it is definitely satirical, however.]]
to:
* RatedMForManly: Although this is present in the second film as well, "Army of Darkness" is so manly that it can make your TV grow chest hair and a full-length beard. [[TestosteronePoisoning Some of it is definitely satirical, however.]] ]]
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* RetCon: In-universe example; the Book of the Dead is given the title "Naturom Demonto" in the first film, then changed to being the Necronomicon in the second film as a ShoutOut to HPLovecraft, and finally it becomes "{{Necronomicon}} [[GratuitousLatin ex Mortis]]" in ''Army of Darkness''. This last change is particularly egrerious to anyone who [[BilingualBonus understands Latin]]; it directly means "The book of the dead of the dead", though it's (understandably) more commonly translated as "The dead book of the dead" in the media, which sounds... well, still not entirely sensible, but not as outright stupid as the first translation.
** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
to:
* RetCon: {{Retcon}}: In-universe example; the Book of the Dead is given the title "Naturom Demonto" in the first film, then changed to being the Necronomicon in the second film as a ShoutOut to HPLovecraft, Creator/HPLovecraft, and finally it becomes "{{Necronomicon}} [[GratuitousLatin ex Mortis]]" in ''Army of Darkness''. This last change is particularly egrerious to anyone who [[BilingualBonus understands Latin]]; it directly means "The book of the dead of the dead", though it's (understandably) more commonly translated as "The dead book of the dead" in the media, which sounds... well, still not entirely sensible, but not as outright stupid as the first translation.
** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
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* RuleOfFunny: Partially the driving purpose behind the two sequels.
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* RuleOfFunny: Partially the driving purpose behind the two sequels.
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* SerialEscalation: The series begins with a college student fighting demons in an isolated cabin in the woods, and gets ''cooler from there.''
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* SerialEscalation: The series begins with a college student fighting demons in an isolated cabin in the woods, and gets ''cooler from there.'' ''
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** The haunted forest with a girl running in the darkness and attacked by possessed trees reminds a little [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White]]'s dark forest sequence, exepct this time the trees are real and not part of hallucinations.
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** The haunted forest with a girl running in the darkness and attacked by possessed trees reminds a little [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White]]'s White's]] dark forest sequence, exepct this time the trees are real and not part of hallucinations.
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** In some of the movies the "Book of the Dead" is referred to as the [[HPLovecraft Necronomicon]] ex Mortis.
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** In some of the movies the "Book of the Dead" is referred to as the [[HPLovecraft [[Creator/HPLovecraft Necronomicon]] ex Mortis.
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* [[TitleTheAdaptation Title: The Adaptation]]: Evil Dead: The Musical!
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The "Morturom Demonto," though it becomes the "Necronomicron ex Mortis" in the sequels (after Sam Raimi learned about HPLovecraft and renamed the book as a ShoutOut). Usually shortened by characters to either "the Necronomicon" or "the Book of the Dead".
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The "Morturom Demonto," though it becomes the "Necronomicron ex Mortis" in the sequels (after Sam Raimi learned about HPLovecraft and renamed the book as a ShoutOut). Usually shortened by characters to either "the Necronomicon" or "the Book of the Dead".
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* [[TitleTheAdaptation Title: The Adaptation]]: TitleTheAdaptation: Evil Dead: The Musical!
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The "Morturom Demonto," though it becomes the "Necronomicron ex Mortis" in the sequels (after Sam Raimi learned aboutHPLovecraft Creator/HPLovecraft and renamed the book as a ShoutOut). Usually shortened by characters to either "the Necronomicon" or "the Book of the Dead".
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The "Morturom Demonto," though it becomes the "Necronomicron ex Mortis" in the sequels (after Sam Raimi learned about
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** It may be telling that the scene was co-producer Rob Tapert's idea, and that the "cast episodes" of ''[[HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' and ''[[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', also by Renaissance Pictures, have Bruce Campbell playing Rob as a LovableSexManiac.
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** It may be telling that the scene was co-producer Rob Tapert's idea, and that the "cast episodes" of ''[[HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''[[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', ''XenaWarriorPrincess'', also by Renaissance Pictures, have Bruce Campbell playing Rob as a LovableSexManiac.
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** It is plausible that he is simply BrilliantButLazy. Ash shows remarkable technical skill, leadership and general competence when he's actually forced to. This [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] more supported by the RevisedEnding where Ash is shown back at his non-demanding S-Mart job despite having the capacity to do much more with his life.
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** "KlaatuBaradaNikto" Taken from ''TheDayTheEarthStoodStill'' but [[OlderThanTheyThink some just know it from this.]]
*** Well, they shouldn't, considering the line here is Klaatu Verata Nicto.
*** Well, they shouldn't, considering the line here is Klaatu Verata Nicto.
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** "KlaatuBaradaNikto" Taken from ''TheDayTheEarthStoodStill'' ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' but [[OlderThanTheyThink some just know it from this.]]
*** Well, they shouldn't, considering the line here is Klaatu Verata Nicto.]]
*** Well, they shouldn't, considering the line here is Klaatu Verata Nicto.
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* TheChewToy: Ash just can't get a break. The original ending of the third movie would have taken this UpToEleven.
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** Army of Darkness starts off with a Retcon too. While at the end of Evil Dead 2 Ash destroyed a winged demon with a single shotgun blast and was promptly lauded as the ChosenOne who would deliver humanity from the Deadites, AoD quickly retells events to show Ash immediately being mistaken for a defeated enemy of a passing army and dragged away as a slave.
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trope renamed at TRS
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* LateToTheParty - Although Ash and his friends don't realize it at first
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* LateToTheParty LateToTheTragedy - Although Ash and his friends don't realize it at first
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* {{Mooks}}: The Deadites are demoted to this in the ''ArmyOfDarkness''.
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* {{Mooks}}: The Deadites are demoted to this titular army in the ''ArmyOfDarkness''.Army of Darkness.
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* {{Mooks}}: The Deadites are demoted a this in the ''ArmyOfDarkness''.
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* {{Mooks}}: The Deadites are demoted a to this in the ''ArmyOfDarkness''.
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* {{Mooks}}: The Deadites are demoted a this in the ''ArmyOfDarkness''.
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->''"The fact is that you can't hold Ash to the same standard that you hold mere mortals to. He is not only just a complete and total [[BadAss badass]]; [[TropeCodifier He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[RuleOfCool jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[BottomlessMagazines in rapid succession]] [[DeathFromAbove while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[CrazyAwesome he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem [[BeyondTheImpossible impossible]] for him to do the things that he does and kick as much ass as he is famous for doing, I assure you that it isn't. Why, you ask? Simple. [[MemeticBadass Because he's Ash]]."''
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->''"The fact is that you can't hold Ash to the same standard that you hold mere mortals to. He is not only just a complete and total [[BadAss badass]]; [[TropeCodifier He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[RuleOfCool jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[BottomlessMagazines in rapid succession]] [[DeathFromAbove while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[CrazyAwesome he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem [[BeyondTheImpossible impossible]] impossible for him to do the things that he does and kick as much ass as he is famous for doing, I assure you that it isn't. Why, you ask? Simple. [[MemeticBadass Because he's Ash]]."''
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* BeyondTheImpossible: The series begins with a college student fighting demons in an isolated cabin in the woods, and gets ''cooler from there.''
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* SerialEscalation: The series begins with a college student fighting demons in an isolated cabin in the woods, and gets ''cooler from there.''
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* NoBudget: The first movie (which also lead to [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19901_5-great-movie-scenes-made-possible-by-reckless-endangerment_p2.html a lot of]] EnforcedMethodActing)
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* PunctuatedForEmphasis: [[ThisIsMyBoomstick "This... Is... My... BOOMSTICK!"]]
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* ThisIsSparta: [[ThisIsMyBoomstick "This... Is... My... BOOMSTICK!"]]
