Shaun of the Dead Characters - Ed

Ed (portrayed by Nick Frost) is a lovable lout and the best friend of our hero, Shaun. The two met in grammar school, and their friendship continues to this day.

They could often be found at the Winchester Tavern, the neighborhood pub, where they were participants in the weekly quiz contest. Ed was also a big fan of the pub'scoin-operated games. When Shaun was having a bad day, Ed would take him tothe Winchester and try to raise his spirits, often doing his famous impersonation of Clyde, the orangutan from Clint Eastwood's film Every Which Way But Loose.

Five years before the events portrayed in the movie, Ed came over one night to the house rented by Shaun and Pete. They stayed up all night drinking and playing Tekken 2, and Ed crashed on the couch. Five years later, he was still crashing on the couch and playing video games all day, occasionally selling some marijuana and talking over the phone with dubious characters named "E-Ball" and "Noodle."

This caused a certain amount of tension, as Ed constantly proved a source of aggravation for the more-responsible Pete. Shaun would always take up for his best friend, and Pete would claim that Ed was holding him back. Pete was also irritated by the fact that Ed would never take down phone messages, and he and Shaun had a habit of leaving the front door wide open after a night out at the Winchester.

Ed and Shaun's close friendship also caused tension in Shaun's relationship with hisgirlfriend, Liz. The duo would always hang out at the Winchester and seemed more thancontent to drink their lives away at the local pub. Liz wanted more out of life, as well as some time away from Ed, and this eventually contributed to her breaking up with Shaun(though the two would later reconcile). Ed tended to not take things very seriously, as demonstrated when he took a phone call from a friend while the group was surrounded by zombies. This pushed Shaun over the edge and caused him to berate Ed, accusing him of constantly messing up things and making Shaun look like a fool. There was also the incident where Ed deliberately wrecked their getaway vehicle so that he could ride in Shaun's step-father's Jaguar.

While the zombie epidemic (also known as "Z-Day") brought out the best in people like Liz and Shaun, it didn't really change Ed very much. He fought when he had to, but he otherwise seemed content to hang back and allow others to do the hard work.

During the final assault on the Winchester, Ed was confronted with a zombified Pete. The two grappled, allowing another zombie to sneak up behind Ed and bite him (Pete also got a bite in). Bleeding badly, Ed escaped to the cellar with Shaun and Liz, but chose to remain behind when they ran outside. With only two shells left in his rifle, Ed chose to pass on suicide and kill the first two zombies who journeyed into the cellar.

Luckily, the second zombie was a massive fellow, and Ed used him as a shield to avoid being eaten by the others. Hiding under the stairs in the cellar, Ed eventually passed on peacefully from his zombie-inflicted wounds. He returned as a zombie and was found by Shaun, who had returned to check on the final fate of his old friend.

Not being able to bring himself to kill his old pal, Shaun lured him back home and placed him in the tool shed, setting him up with a comfortable chair and his video game system. He also trained Ed, finally breaking him of the urge to eat Shaun. These days, Ed pretty much does what he always did - sit around and play video games.