Honestly, if you watched Ash vs Evil Dead and thought Ruby Knowby was just another demon of the week, you weren't paying attention. Or maybe the sheer amount of blood spray hitting the camera lens blurred the vision a bit. It happens.
But here’s the thing: Ruby isn't just a villain. She’s the literal author of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. Imagine writing a book so messed up it ruins the lives of everyone who touches it for three decades, and then having to team up with a guy like Ash Williams to fix it. That's the vibe. It’s like a chaotic homeowner trying to evict 10,000 raccoons with the help of a guy who only owns a chainsaw and a boomstick.
The dynamic between Ruby and Ash is basically the heart of the show's middle act, and it’s way more complicated than "good vs. evil."
Why Ruby Knowby Is More Than Just a "Knowby"
When we first meet Lucy Lawless’s character, she’s playing the long game. She claims to be the daughter of Professor Raymond Knowby. You remember him—the guy from the original films who dug up the book in the first place. It was a smart play. It gave her an "in" with the mythology that fans already knew.
But then the curtain drops. Ruby is a Dark One.
She’s thousands of years old. In ancient Rome, they called her the "demon woman of fire." In Greece, she was the "Fierce Mother from Hell." She didn't just find the book; she helped write it. The reason she was hunting Ash in Season 1 wasn't just revenge for her "family." She wanted her property back.
Ash, being Ash, had basically been using the most dangerous occult object in history as a coaster for his beers. Ruby’s frustration wasn't just villainy; it was the annoyance of an artist seeing their masterpiece treated like trash by a middle-aged guy in a girdle.
The Seasonal Shift: From Villain to (Kinda) Hero
The weirdest part of the Ruby vs Ash saga happens in Season 2.
After the Season 1 finale, where Ash—in true "El Jefe" fashion—takes a deal to retire to Jacksonville while letting Ruby keep the book, things go south. Ruby’s own "children" (the demon spawn she birthed) turn on her. She loses her immortality. Suddenly, she’s mortal, she’s bleeding, and she has to go to the one person she hates most for help.
Seeing Ruby and Ash in the same car is peak television. You’ve got the ultimate ancient evil and the ultimate "average Joe" bickering like a divorced couple over who has to hold the Kandarian Dagger.
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This is where the show really hit its stride. It forced Ash to acknowledge that he couldn't just "chainsaw" his way out of every problem. He needed Ruby’s knowledge. And Ruby? She realized that while Ash is a complete moron, he’s a moron who is weirdly good at surviving things that should kill him in seconds.
The Time Travel Mess
Everything gets really wonky when the "Ghost Beaters" travel back to 1982. This is a crucial detail: the Ruby we grew to love/tolerate in Season 2 actually dies. She gets killed by her younger, 1982-era self.
- Season 1 & 2 Ruby: The "reformed" Dark One who wanted to control the evil she created.
- Season 3 Ruby: The 1982 version who followed Ash back to the present.
The Season 3 Ruby—posing as school counselor Rebecca Prevett—is way more ruthless. She doesn't have the "30 years of hanging out with humans" baggage that the first Ruby had. She’s pure, distilled ambition. She wants to replace Ash with a "Chosen One" of her own making, which leads to the whole demonic pregnancy plotline that was, frankly, one of the grossest things to ever air on TV.
What Most People Miss About the Final Fight
By the time we get to the end of Season 3, the stakes have shifted. Ruby isn't just trying to kill Ash; she’s trying to erase his legacy. She tries to turn his daughter, Brandy, against him. She tries to create a clone of Ash that will be loyal only to her.
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But the irony is that Ruby, for all her ancient wisdom, always underestimated the "Ash factor." Ash doesn't win because he's smarter. He wins because he’s too stubborn to stay dead and too dumb to realize when the odds are impossible.
When the Dark Ones finally show up to reclaim their own, they don't give Ruby a hero's welcome. They suck the soul right out of her. It’s a brutal, unceremonious end for a character who thought she was the one pulling the strings. In the world of Evil Dead, nobody gets a clean exit.
The Real Impact of the Rivalry
If you're looking to understand why this rivalry still matters to horror fans, it’s about the chemistry. Lucy Lawless and Bruce Campbell are icons for a reason. They played off each other with a mix of genuine menace and slapstick timing that you just don't see in modern horror.
Ruby was the perfect foil for Ash because she represented everything he wasn't: calculated, ancient, and deeply connected to the lore. Without her, Ash is just a guy fighting monsters. With her, he becomes a part of a much larger, darker cosmic joke.
How to Revisit the Story
If you're planning a rewatch or diving in for the first time, keep an eye on these specific things to see the nuances of the Ruby vs Ash dynamic:
- Watch the eyes: In Season 1, Ruby’s "human" facade is perfect until the very end. Look for the subtle shifts when she talks about the book.
- The "Jacksonville" deal: Pay attention to how often Ash brings up his "peaceful retirement." It’s the one thing Ruby used to manipulate him that actually worked.
- Mortal Ruby: In Season 2, notice how much more "human" Lucy Lawless plays the character once she can actually be killed. Her fear makes her relatable.
- The Dagger: The Kandarian Dagger is the "football" in this long-running game. Whoever has it holds the power, but it usually ends up being used in ways nobody expected.
The show might be over, but the debate over who was the "true" hero of the story (or at least the most effective one) continues. Ruby might have written the book, but Ash was the only one brave—or stupid—enough to keep reading it.
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If you want to dive deeper into the lore, start by re-watching the Season 2 finale and the Season 3 premiere back-to-back. The shift in Ruby's personality is jarring if you're not looking for it, but it explains exactly why the series ended the way it did. Also, keep an eye out for the subtle references to the Army of Darkness timeline; the showrunners had to dance around some legal rights issues, but the "Chosen One" mythology ties it all together.