Deadites
A "Deadite" is a life-force, person, animal or plant possessed by the Kandarian Demon.
Human Deadites
In regard to an human who have been possessed, the resulting Deadite is a psychic, physical and spiritual extension of the Evil Dead. His/her personality is a hybridal mix between the Kandarian Demon's main consciousness and the specific host mind, including memories and behaviour. By all means, Deadites are the Kandarian Demon, and the Kandarian Demon is them. We can assume the Evil Dead is a gestalt composed of all Deadites existing at a given moment and the Unseen Force roaming in the woods. Deadites are like an efficient network, all connected to each other (see Cheryl and Linda; Ed and Henrietta). In the while, the Evil Dead devours the human souls trapped inside the Deadites as flies swamped into a cobweb.
The Human Deadites in their first and default stadium display white eyes with no pupil, reverbered voice, abnormal facial features, sharpened teeth, altered hands, skin tone change (grey, yellow, rosey or white) and differently-colored blood and fluids (white, dark or light red, black or green). The main abilities of a Deadite: superhuman strength and stamina, lievitation, invulnerability to knife cuts and minor gun shots. Over time, they can morph their overall body structure, or even grow extra limbs from the inside of their bodies. The most dramatic change they can substain is the conversion into a bat-winged brownish creature not resembling human anymore. Deadites can also temporarily "normalize" their aspect in order to decevive people, but the effect lasts just few minutes. Deadites can survive extensive damage to their bodies (see Henrietta, ED2 Linda). If trapped or blocked, they can immerse themselves into an apparent sleep condition and awake in convenient times (see Henrietta). In slumber mode, they slowly rot.
Possession is fastly achieved with a direct interface and "fusion" with the incorporeal essence of the Evil Dead, a drastic mean to speed up the production of Human Deadites (see Shelly, Ash). Another instance of possession is through being hit or violently touched by a Deadite. The Deadite would imbue the subject with a "portion" of the Evil Dead essence. In a slow process similar to a biological viral infection, the essence gradually increases within the organism, until the point the new Deadite release himself (the "Rotting": black ramifications can be seen on the skin few second before the definitive conversion). Severed limbs or heads of Deadites can only transmit a limited amount of Evil Dead essence, not enough to possess an entire organism but at least part of it (see Ash's hand). Ash is one of the few to be resilient to the latter possession mode.
The human soul inside the Deadite, while being painfully consumed and dissipated over time, can sometimes emerge and try to vainly stop the Deadite (see Ash, Henrietta).
Killing a Deadite is a difficult task. The rules are identical for each manifestation of the Evil Dead coming from any Book of the Dead. The Deadite must be dismembered in a total way, decapitation is not sufficient. Multiple and high caliber gun shots can stop the Deadite for a limited amount of time (he/she falls unconscious), but dismemberment is necessary to finish off the Deadite anyway.
Background
Human beings that have been possessed by a Deadite will exhibit white, pupil-less eyes, dark grey skin, and will also appear to decay rapidly. In The Evil Dead & The Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, when people became possessed, they continued to decay indefinitely. It can be assumed that eventually the host body will decay completely from the demon's corruption. In The Evil Dead, Professor Knowby warned via his tape recordings that he feared the only way to stop those possessed by the demons (Deadites) was through the act of bodily dismemberment. Also in the same film, he warned that the
Ed Getley Deadite Evil Dead II
book said that these enduring creatures may lie dormant but were never truly dead.
When a human becomes a Deadite, it is assumable that they have no control over their physical body. Their souls are apparently taken to Hell and tortured, although this might just be the demons' threat to scare those not possessed. In the films, only two people that become a deadite was ever released or returned to normal, the most notable being Ash or Mia from the remake.
The Deadites also apparently have complete recall of the lives of their vessels, their memories, their emotions, and their relationships, and are able to temporarily appear as fully human again to communicate with those not possessed. This has only been used to escape from certain death or indefinite confinement. Through this trickery, the Deadites provoke an irrational and emotional response in their captors or would-be killers to allow them an opportunity either for escape or to catch them off-guard.
A Deadite in The Evil Dead (2013)
The Deadites as
Flying Deadite Army Of Darkness
creatures appear as beings of pure debauchery, lust, and insanity. They enjoy self-mutilation, swearing, and relishing the fear of their prey. In Evil Dead (2013), the Deadites inflict terrible bodily damage to themselves before they even begin attacking others. It is unknown if they do this as a scare tactic or simply because they enjoy the pain. Oddly enough, after being a Deadite for several hours, suffering various injuries (mostly self-inflicted) including forking her tongue with a box-cutter, and being buried alive, Mia was completely unharmed after release from her possesion. This may imply that while possesing a human any harm on the body is inflicted on the demon rather than the possesed.
Notable Deadites
Deadite Wolverine in Army Of Darkness V.S Marvel Zombie
Cheryl Williams - most dangerous deadite in the first film.
Scotty - second most dangerous deadite in the first film.
Linda - less dangerous deadite in the first film / most dangerous deadite in the second film.
Henrietta Knowby - second most dangerous deadite in the second film.
Ed Getley - less dangerous deadite in the second film.
Evil Ash - most dangerous deadite in the third film.
Abomination - most dangerous deadite in the remake.
Eric - second most dangerous deadite in the remake.