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Evil Dead (view source)

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{{quote|''"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]]; [[Trope Codifier|He is the standard by which all future badasses will be measured.]] So if he wants to [[Rule of Cool|jump onto a department store trampoline and]] [[Improbable Aiming Skills|fire fifteen perfectly-aimed shotgun shells]] [[Bottomless Magazines|in rapid succession]] [[Death From Above|while soaring twenty feet in the air,]] [[Crazy Awesome|he can do it.]] You and I can't; but you and I are also not Ash. And while it may seem [[Beyond the 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. [[Memetic Badass|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 [[B -Movie]] plot; this film was '''''The Evil Dead'''''. The film, which was directed by [[Sam Raimi]] (of ''[[Spider-Man (Film)|Spider-Man]]'' fame), and starred [[Bruce Campbell]] (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 [[Rule of Cool]].
 
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 [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|screws up]] the retrieval, he's forced to train and help the [[Training the Peaceful Villagers|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|crossovers]] with [[Marvel Comics|Marvel Zombies]] and [[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]], as well as ''[[Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash]]''), a [[Role Playing Game]] under the Unisystem umbrella, and '''[http://www.evildeadthemusical.com/ a Broadway musical]''' all based on Ash and the ''Evil Dead'' trilogy.
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* [[Black Blood]]: 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}}.
* [[Bland -Name Product]]: "Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart!"
** "YA GOT THAT!?"
* [[Blatant Lies]]: Jake's song in the musical. He claims to have won an Oscar for directing ''[[Platoon]]'', written [[Jackie Chan]]'s autobiography, and coined the phrase "fo shizzle, my nizzle!"
* [[Bloody Hilarious]]: The second movie.
* [[B -Movie]]: Definitely among the most famous [[B -Movie|B Movies]] ever.
* [[Body Horror]]: 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.
* [[Bond One -Liner]]: Many. But here's one anyway:
{{quote| '''Good Ash:''' (fires shotgun up Evil Ash's nose) Good, Bad, I'm the guy with the gun.}}
* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: 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.
* [[Butt Monkey]]: [[Badass]] he may be, but Ash is still this quite often.
* [[California Doubling]]: ''Army of Darkness'' takes place in medieval England, but it's pretty obviously filmed in Bronson Canyon and [[KirksKirk's Rock|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).
* [[The Cameo]]: 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.
* [[The Cavalry]]: Henry the Red and his peoples.
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* [[Chainsaw Good]]: Probably one of the most iconic examples in media.
* [[The Chosen One]]: Technically, the "Promised One". Also mixed with a little [[It Sucks to Be The Chosen One]].
* [[Cold -Blooded Torture]]: 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).
* [[Cool Car]]: Sam Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile is Ash's in the series. Even the car [[Took a Level In Badass]] in ''Army of Darkness'', when it is turned into a [[Steampunk|war machine]].
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* [[Dung Ages]]: ''Army of Darkness'', and results in Ash being a jerk to everyone in the beginning.
* [[Enemy Without]]
* [[EverybodysEverybody's Dead, Dave]]: {{spoiler|Including your own hand.}}
** AND they're comin' back to getcha!
* [[Evil Hand]]
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* [[Helping Hands]]
* [[Hero of Another Story]]: According to the recordings, Professor Knowby had his own share of Deadite troubles before Ash got anywhere near the cabin.
* [[High -Pressure Blood]]
* [[The Hyena]]: Deadite Linda.
* [[Idiot Hero]]: Ash.
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* [[It Got Worse]]: 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 [[Apocalyptic Log]] and find out the old man who lived there was actually attacked by his possessed ex-wife. And he buried her in the cellar...
* [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]]: Ash in the sequels, especially ''Army of Darkness''.
* {{spoiler|[[Kill 'Em All]]:}} Everybody but Ash in {{spoiler|1 and 2.}}
* [[Kensington Gore]]: 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.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: 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}}.
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{{quote| '''Ash''': Now I swear... the next one of you ''primates''... even ''touches'' me...}}
* [[The Magic Versus Technology War]]; 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.
{{quote| '''Ash:''' [[Rousing Speech|We can take these guys, we can take them!]] [[For Science!|With science]]!}}
* [[Medieval Morons]]: "You primitive screwheads!"
* [[Men Are the Expendable Gender]]: SPECTACULARLY averted. Of the seven people killed in the first two movies, five of them are women. The [[Sole Survivor]] is even a man.
* [[Metafictional Title]]: 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 [[Viewers Areare Morons|it was a movie about a book]].
* [[The Middle Ages]]: Setting of ''[[Army of Darkness]]''
* [[Mind Control Eyes]]: Used straight and subverted, at a couple points the deadites go back to their host's pre-corpse state to fool Ash.
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* [[Mood Whiplash]]: The two sequels go from scary to hilarious and back again so quickly that your neck will hurt.
* [[The Musical]]: The franchise gained a musical adaptation, which has appeared on Broadway.
* [[NamesName's the Same]]: [[Mass Effect|Ashley Williams.]] Yeah it was deliberate.
{{quote| Nothing like a nice relaxing stroll on the beach...blasting bad guys with my ''boomstick.''}}
* [[Night of the Living Mooks]]: The titular army in ''Army of Darkness''. Partially subverted in that they ''run away screaming'' when shelled with explosive arrows and bags of gunpowder.
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* [[Popcultural Osmosis]]
* [[Post Climax Confrontation]]: Replaced the [[Downer Ending]] of ''Army of Darkness''.
* [[Pre -Ass -Kicking One -Liner]]: Kind of Ash's specialty...
{{quote| '''Ash:''' Yo. She-bitch. Let's go.<br />
'''Ash:''' Come to Papa.<br />
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* [[Red Eyes Take Warning]]
* [[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 [[Shout Out]] to [[HP Lovecraft]], and finally it becomes "[[Necronomicon]] [[Gratuitous Latin|ex Mortis]]" in ''Army of Darkness''. This last change is particularly egrerious to anyone who [[Bilingual Bonus|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.
* [[Revised Ending]]: ''Army of Darkness'' originally has an [[Cruel Twist Ending]] with Ash {{spoiler|waking up in post apocalyptic England after taking too much of a sleeping potion}}, which was changed to a [[Pre -Ass -Kicking One -Liner]] filled ending thanks to [[Executive Meddling]].
** "Hail to the King, baby!"
* [[Rule of Cool]]: 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 [[So Bad ItsIt's Good|so bad they're good.]]
* [[Rule of Funny]]: Partially the driving purpose behind the two sequels.
* [[Satire Parody Pastiche]]
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** In some of the movies the "Book of the Dead" is referred to as the [[HP Lovecraft|Necronomicon]] ex Mortis.
* [[Slept Through the Apocalypse]]: the original end of ''Army''.
* [[Star -Making Role]]: Bruce Campbell is most definitely annoyed by the amount of people who ask him about ''Evil Dead IV''.
* [[Taxidermy Terror]]: The house in ''Evil Dead II'' is full of creepy stuffed trophy heads who laugh at Ash.
* [[This Is Sparta]]: [[This Is My Boomstick|"This... Is... My... BOOMSTICK!"]]
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* [[Unlikely Hero]]: Ash in ''Army of Darkness''. Lampshaded in ''Evil Dead II''.
* [[Video Nasties]]: Probably the best known film bearing this trope.
* [[Viewers Areare Morons]]: 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. [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], though, as Raimi and co. grew to love the new title.
* [[The Walls Are Closing In]]: ''Army of Darkness'' sees Ash thrown into a pit containing a few demons that he has to fight, as well as this particular [[Death Trap]] just to make things more exciting. He escapes by hanging onto the chain powering the closing walls as it moves up.
* [[Waterfall Shower]]: Abbey and Ash take one, to wash off zombie goo, in ''[[Danger Girl]] and the [[Army of Darkness]]'' #5.
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* [[What Could Have Been]]: Annie from ''Evil Dead 2'' was written as a role for [[Holly Hunter]]. Dino De Laurentis vetoed the choice as he didn't think she was beautiful enough.
* [[What Happened to Mommy]]: 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.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Ash messes up reciting The Words and doesn't care that he has doomed everyone.
{{quote| '''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.
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** 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 ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', also by Renaissance Pictures, have Bruce Campbell playing Rob as a [[Lovable Sex Maniac]].
* [[WhosWho's Laughing Now?]]: After taking constant abuse from his [[Evil Hand]], Ash invokes this trope (even the title word-for-word!) with the help of a nearby chainsaw.
* [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]: 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.
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