Fans of Ash vs Evil Dead will forever malign the show's cancellation. Despite its declining ratings, the series had a devoted cult following that eagerly embraced its slapstick comedy and outrageous gore. These were staples left over from the original Evil Dead franchise, but viewers were also treated to surprisingly deep worldbuilding that expanded upon the history of the Necronomicon. One of the most memorable characters to appear in this context was Ruby Knowby, the immortal author of the Book of the Dead and Ash Williams' archfoe.

Ruby, played by geek television legend Lucy Lawless (from Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica), had a complex arc that made her an effectively compelling antagonist. Her allegiances and motivations shift throughout all three seasons of the show, and her conniving intelligence makes her the perfect foil for Ash and his reckless stupidity. A season-by-season look at Ruby's character development reveals just how exceptional of a villain she is for everyone's favorite killer of Deadites.

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Season 1

Ruby is first introduced as a mysterious woman who helps out in the investigation of a grisly crime involving Deadites. She seems to have special knowledge about the demons and seems intent on tracking down Ash. At first, she claims that she is the daughter of Professor Raymond Knowby, who originally released the Kandarian demons by reading the Necronomicon in the Evil Dead films. However, she is resurrected from the dead after being thrown into a fire, proving that she is immortal.

Ruby continues to follow Ash until she finally catches up to him to stop him from burying the Necronomicon. She explains to him that in order to truly eliminate the evil once and for all, he needs to physically destroy the book. This turns out to be a ruse, as Ruby reveals herself as the original author of the Necronomicon and, as such, harbinger of a new age of evil and darkness. She also tells Ash that even though he was prophesized to defeat her, she can grant him his lifelong dream of retiring in Jacksonville, Florida. It's not until Ruby holds his friends hostage that Ash finally concedes to allowing her to release the evil dead onto the world. Luckily for Ash, he still gets to go to Jacksonville, even if a demonic apocalypse is fast-approaching.

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Season 2

Whereas the twist of the first season of Ash vs Evil Dead was the reveal of Ruby as the big bad, the character teams up with Ash and his friends in the second. This is because the demon children she spawned have grown too powerful for her to control and have turned on their master. Ruby posits that this is because her ex-lover, the demon Baal, has grown jealous of her power and seeks to control it himself. Because Baal can only be harmed and defeated through mystical, supernatural means, Ash and the gang must depend on Ruby's expertise in magic, despite her previous betrayal.

Ruby forms a close bond with Kelly, one of Ash's friends who progressively gets fiercer as the show goes on. As the two fight off hordes of Deadites together, Ruby theorizes that it may actually be Kelly, not Ash, who is savior she had been searching for. She eventually reaches a change-of-heart by the end of the season, agreeing to travel back in time to the year 1982 to prevent Ash from ever finding the Necronomicon in the first place. Sadly, Ruby encounters a vicious past version of herself that kills her in battle and teams up with Baal. Even though Ash eventually defeats them, Ruby manages to escape banishment to hell and returns more diabolical than ever in the next season.

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Season 3

Now a vengeful, angry iteration of her 1982 self, Ruby is truly Ash's most dangerous and threatening antagonist at the time of the series' final season. She tortures, murders, and manipulates her way to unleashing the apocalypse after giving birth to a twisted demon baby formed in the image of Ash. Ruby kidnaps a random, innocent couple, feeding the husband to the child and forcing the wife to babysit the creature in servitude. She also poses as a school guidance counselor and attempts to turn Ash's long-lost daughter against him.

Perhaps her most despicable act, however, is killing Kelly, the same woman the Ruby of last season bonded so closely with. Furthermore, she uses Kelly's body as a vessel for the soul of her sorceress friend Kaya. Ironically, it's the Dark Ones themselves that step in to banish Ruby to punish her for wresting control from them, but they quickly could have become an intimidating threat for Ash if the series continued. It's fitting, then, that the show's most enduring villain received the most definite conclusion.

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