Since its feature film debut back in the 1980s, The Evil Dead is one of the goriest yet at the same time hilarious horror franchises in the last several decades making stars out of director Sami Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell.
With the release of Evil Dead Rises coming to theatres this Friday, now seems like the right time for a list counting down some of the most memorable and horrific monsters of the franchise.
Sidenote here, I won’t be including any villains from the comic books or video games as will be focusing on the baddies that appeared on the big and small screen also spoiler alert if you have never seen the movies or the TV Show…With that all out of the way, here’s my list of the Top 10 Evil Dead Villains.
#10. The Demon Spawns (Ash vs. Evil Dead)
In the final episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead’s first season, Ash Williams attempts to rescue his friend, Pablo Bolivar after getting part of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis attached to his face.
Upon heading into the basement of the old abandoned Knowby Cabin, Ash and the viewers regrettably bare witness to Pablo “birthing” or vomiting out some gray-skinned demon kids. In addition to their slimy exterior and lack of eyeballs, also have the power to hide in the shadows, heal from injuries caused by mortal weapons and even have the power of taking away their mother’s immortality.
While the demon spawns could be seen running amuck inside the cabin before running off to unknown destinations, they would return in season two having turned on their mother and determined to find the infamous book of the dead in hopes of bringing their demonic father back to the land of the living.
Of course, these plans were foiled as the Demon Spawns were dispatched by Ash and his allies with the help of the Kandarian Dagger.
#9. Baby Ash/ Evil Ash (Ash vs. Evil Dead)
Ash Williams has had to battle evil versions of himself throughout the Evil Dead franchise and the sinister child-turned-adult doppelganger that appears in the third and final season of Ash vs. Evil Dead is no exception.
Upon recapturing the Necronomicon, Ruby attempts to use a ritual that allows her to birth a baby version of Ash Williams which manages to hold its own against his real-life counterpart (even at a young age) before quickly growing up to look and sound like the original.
Although an instrument in his mother’s master plan to end the real Ash’s bloodline and become the new chosen one, Evil Ash plays his role dutifully. His ability to scare and kill numerous students at the Kenward County High School Prom further leads to Ash’s daughter, Brandy, believing her father to be the deranged mass murdering ‘Ashy Slashy’ his been nicknamed all over town
The plan almost succeeds, unfortunately, Brandy’s compassion for her dad and the real Ash confronting his double at prom leads to Evil Ash getting his head blown off by way of the classic twelve gauge double barrel shotgun.
#8. The Dark Ones (Ash vs. Evil Dead)
By far the most powerful entities in the entire franchise, The Dark Ones are a group of hoodied creatures who are hyped up as the big bad antagonists of the series and the bringers of death and destruction throughout the centuries.
At one time, the Dark Ones enslaved the world with the help of their dark magic and armies of deadites but were eventually defeated and banished out of existence. Fast forward to the events of Ash vs. Evil Dead’s third season and the Dark Ones are not only looking to return to the mortal world and continue where they left off, but they are also looking for the missing pages of the Necronomicon and to exact vengeance on the people responsible for their imprisonment.
Not long after reclaiming the lost pages of the book, the Dark Ones merge together to form Kandar the Destroyer, the creature that was destined to battle the chosen one with the sake of humanity on the line. Thankfully Ash was able to defeat both the destroyer in the 21st century and stop the Dark Ones’ plans from coming true.
#7. Eligos (Ash vs. Evil Dead)
Realizing that his pot-filled encounter with a young woman in his trailer accidentally released the evil forces of the Necronomicon back to earth, Ash attempts to find a way to undo the madness before it gets worse.
Ash’s solution to do this…conjure up a demon from the book with the hopes that it’ll put an end to the evil within the Book of the Dead. Unsurprisingly things don’t go exactly as planned and the demon known as Eligos attempts to use his powers, including teleportation and mind manipulation, to kill our heroes until he disappears after Kelly smashes the demon with an object.
However, Eligos didn’t die at the hands of Kelly and instead possessed her body in the hopes of getting another chance at killing Ash and Pablo with that opportunity coming again once the crew goes to meet Pablo’s uncle.
While the demon is able to kill Pablo’s uncle during a fight, it’s Ash who is able to shoot Eligos in the face, killing him for good.
#6. The Abomination aka The Taker of Souls (Evil Dead 2013 Remake)
Stepping away from the TV series for a little bit, let’s talk about the 2013 Evil Dead film: a movie that did surprisingly better than what most would’ve expected from most horror remakes. The movie was able to maintain the level of violence and gore the original film was known for while also being genuinely creepy and unsettling throughout.
During a trip to an isolated cabin, Mia Allen goes with the idea that the trip will help her get over her dependence on drugs; However, when she attempts to escape her surroundings, she soon encounters a pale, yellow eye version of herself which soon begins to take over her body. The Abomination or Taker of Souls as it’s known in the Book of the Undead, starts infecting many of the other residents in the cabin while also using its powers of mimicry to mess with Mia’s brother, David.
Once all of the inhabitants inside the cabin are dead, a resurrected Mia must now take on a monstrous version of herself whilst being showered with raining blood; Although she loses her friends, brother and one of her arms in the fight Mia, does kill the Abomination with a chainsaw while also delivering a witty one-liner that would make Ash Williams proud.
#5. Cheryl Williams (The Evil Dead & Ash vs. Evil Dead)
From one possessed sister to another as we got the original film for our next entry.
Whilst staying with her brother and friends in a cabin, Cheryl Williams begins to hear noises and starts to investigate when she’s soon taken by the demon-possessed woods before getting possessed herself in one of the film’s more graphic moments.
Once back inside, Cheryl begins turning many of her friends into deadites before spending the bulk of the film trapped inside a chained-up basement cellar. Upon getting free, Ash’s deadite sister comes close to killing him but the future boomstick wielder is able to throw the book into an open fire, killing the deadites and her sister in the process.
Years later, Cheryl would return in season two of Ash vs. Evil Dead where we get to learn more about Ash’s sister before killing her again this time with help of his signature chainsaw.
#4. Evil Ash Williams (Army of Darkness)
The third and most hilarious entry in the original Evil Dead Trilogy. Army of Darkness loosely follows the events of the second film and sees Ash trying to get back home after being transported into the middle ages.
During Ash’s mission to find the Necronomicon and put an end to the darkness consuming the realm. He soon encounters mini versions of himself with one of them landing inside Ash’s body and eventually another big-chinned version of our hero emerges albeit more comedic and sinister.
After being shot with the boomstick and buried by the original, Evil Ash returns from the dead more zombified following the real Ash’s failure to remember the words to stop the evil within the book.
Now in charge of a large undead army, Evil Ash attempts to lead his forces against his original self in order to obtain the book of the undead and continue to drown the world in darkness. Still, like many evil versions of Bruce Campbell’s legendary character, they end up meeting their demises in some very over-the-top fashion.
#3. Baal (Ash vs. Evil Dead)
The main antagonist of Ash vs. Evil Dead’s second season, Baal played by actor Joel Tobeck tries to use his demon spawns to release him from hell by way of the Necronomicon. They fail in their attempt leading to Baal communicating through Pablo by way of the book to unintentionally free him which ends up happening.
Baal soon kills multiple people in Elk Grove with his long black fingernail whilst using the skins of his victims as disguises and even reanimating the dead skinless bodies as his servants. After capturing Ash and attempting to persuade him to destroy the Book of the Dead, Baal is outsmarted by Ash eventually leading to his death…but not for long.
In the season two finale, it’s revealed that Baal has once again used his power of manipulation to get Ash to unknowingly bring him back from the dead by travelling back to the 1980s; In a final battle to the finish, Ash manages to use Baal’s own skin ripping fingernail against him before dispatching him back to the depths of hell.
#2. Henrietta Knowby (Evil Dead II & Ash vs. Evil Dead)
Once the loving wife to archaeologist Raymond Knowby, Henrietta was soon possessed by a demon which turned into a deadite and resulted in her being sent into the fruit cellar inside the infamous cabin.
By the events of Evil Dead Two: Dead By Dawn, Henrietta emerges and is looking to devour as many of the inhabitants, especially Ash Williams; Although she was sawed to pieces by Ash in the final act of the film, Mrs Knowby would return as part of Ash vs. Evil Dead.
In the show, Raymond brings a young female to his cabin with the aim of transferring the demon inside Henrietta into her but those plans fall apart once she’s freed and reveals that was indeed a deadite instead of a human that Ash had believed.
Known for her disgusting deadite appearance as well as her long neck when battling Ash both in the film and the TV Series, Henrietta is easily one of the most iconic villains in the franchise, but with that said there is one more person who outshines her.
#1. Ruby Knowby (Ash vs. Evil Dead)
Could it be anyone else…
The main antagonist of the entire Ash vs. Evil Dead series, Ruby (played by Lucy Lawless) is first seen aiding police officer, Amanda Fisher in her hunt for Ash Williams with claims of wanting payback for killing her sister and parents in the Knowby cabin all those years ago.
When Ruby gets dragged away during a scuffle by a deadite version of Pablo’s uncle, she soon emerges and it’s not until the penultimate episode of season one that she reveals herself to be one of the dark ones and the author of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis before using Pablo as a vessel to birth out all of her demon spawns.
While Ruby would turn to the good side upon losing her immortality and being betrayed by her children, things would soon change come the second season finale. Ash time travels back into the 1980s leading to the gang encountering a younger, blonde-haired Ruby who goes on to kill her mortal self and makes her way to the present day to defeat Ash Williams.
Season three would see Ruby pretend to be a guidance counsellor named Ms Prevett who attempts to manipulate Ash’s daughter, Brandy, whilst creating another Ash Williams as part of her plan to end the Williams’ bloodline.
To top it all off, Ruby kills Kelly in order to place the spirit of her associate Kaya the Sorceress in her body but this would ultimately be her undoing. The Dark Ones would soon return to Earth where they removed Kaya’s spirit out of Kelly’s body before incinerating Kaya and proceed to suck the life out of Ruby resulting in her body deteriorating as well as her death.
Much of the show’s sinister and cleverest moments were directly or indirectly orchestrated by Ruby and for that reason, she earns the top spot on this list.
Who do you think was the best villain of the Evil Dead franchise? Are you looking forward to the up-and-coming Evil Dead Rises movie? Leave your thoughts down below and If you like this kind of content, be sure to let me know in the comment section and be sure to follow Lace ‘Em Up on Twitter @laceemupoffice and you can follow me also on Twitter @hakeemfullerton.