Annie Knowby was the daughter of Professor Raymond Knowby and Henrietta Knowby. A budding archeologist, Annie would unearth the lost pages of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis while exploring the ruins of Castle Kandar, pages which she would utilize in a battle against a demonic entity unleashed at her family's cabin upon her return to the United States.
Annie Knowby first appeared in the 1987 film Evil Dead II. She was portrayed by Sarah Berry.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
There is little information in regards to Annie Knowby's life prior to the incident at the cabin, with the exception of a few events of note. She was born on September 2nd, 1962 to Raymond and Henrietta Knowby. During Annie's infancy, Henrietta would frequently sing the lullaby "Hush, Little Baby" to her daughter. At some point in her young life, Annie decided to follow in her father's footsteps and become an archeologist, though it is unknown if she ever attained a degree related to the field. At another unknown point, Annie began a relationship with Ed Getley, an associate professor who worked with her father.
Castle Kandar Expedition[]
In the early 1980s, Annie (along with Ed Getley) would accompany her family on an expedition to the ruins of Castle Kandar in England. It would be here that Raymond Knowby recovered the long-thought-lost Necronomicon Ex-Mortis inside one of the castle's rear chambers. Both Raymond and Henrietta (and eventually Ed) would return to the United States, leaving Annie to continue exploring the castle ruins with the archeology team at the site. Whilst exploring the castle on her own, Annie managed to recover several pages from the Necronomicon which had been removed from the tome's binding for reasons lost to history. Knowing her father intended to translate the Ex-Mortis in full, Annie left the dig site with these "lost pages" and returned to the United States.
Incident At The Cabin[]
Upon her return to the United States, Annie was greeted at the airport by Ed Getley, and presented her recovered treasures to him. Ed then informed Annie that he had not heard from her father in over a week, though they had previously made plans to meet at the Knowby family cabin to begin studying and translating the "lost pages" that night. After departing the airport, the couple made their way through the backwoods until being stopped by a tow-truck blocking the road to the cabin. The truck's driver, a man named Jake, told Annie and Ed that the steel bridge crossing the wide ravine had been destroyed, and offered for him and his girlfriend Bobby Joe to guide the duo on a trail that leads directly to the cabin (for a fee). Annie agreed to Jake's price, under the condition he carry her belongings.
Arriving at the cabin, the travelers were greeted by an unfamiliar man covered in blood, who took a shot at Bobby Joe when she attempted to enter the abode. Jake and Ed quickly subdued the stranger, while Annie looked around the cabin, noticing a bloody chainsaw and the lack of Raymond and Henrietta's presence. Initially jumping to the conclusion the stranger was behind the disappearance of her parents, it was not until examining her father's reel-to-reel tape recorder that Annie realized Raymond had unleashed a Kandarian Demon while translating the Necronomicon, which had possessed Henrietta. Suddenly, the undead Henrietta emerged from the earthen floor of the fruit cellar, prompting Jake and Ed to free the stranger trapped with the monster in the hopes to gain some insight into what happened.
The stranger identified himself as Ash Williams, who had come to this cabin with his girlfriend with the belief that it was abandoned. Annie is then forced to watch as her boyfriend Ed succumbs to this demonic possession himself, but is quickly taken down by Ash. Following this encounter, Annie and the others encounter the spirit of Raymond Knowby, who appears to the group inside the cabin with a message: that their salvation can be found within the "lost pages" of the Ex-Mortis. After Bobby Joe runs out of the cabin after finding Ash's severed hand, Annie begins to sort through and translate the Necronomicon's pages, learning that the Kandarian Demon can be given a form of flesh, which can then be pulled into a vortex leading to another time. Though this initially sounds like a fool-proof plan, Jake complicates the situation by throwing the pages into the fruit cellar in which Henrietta lurks and forcing Ash and Annie to go outside and help him look for Bobby Joe. Jake's plan is useless, but attracts the attention of the Kandarian Demon, who turns Ash into a Deadite.
Annie runs back to the safety of the cabin, grabbing the Kandarian Dagger to defend herself, only to accidentally stab Jake in the gut when he tries to enter the cabin. Dragging the hillbilly's body from the back door all the way to the living room, Annie mistakenly places him right next to the cellar door, where Henrietta reaches out and pulls him below and turns him into a bloody pulp. As the Deadite Ash enters the cabin and goes to attack Annie, he is released of his possession after becoming overwhelmed with grief after being reminded of his own love lost to this evil. With Annie's help, he modifies the chainsaw to attach to the stump where his hand once was and shortens the barrel of the shotgun, ready to head into the cellar and recover the pages.
After venturing into the cellar and handing the pages to Annie, Ash is attacked by the Deadite Henrietta, who then sets her sights on her daughter in the cabin above. Ash emerges from the cellar, making quick-work of the monster with the use of his chainsaw and shotgun. Annie begins to weep, realizing the horrible fate which has befallen her parents, only for the Kandarian Demon to attack the cabin. Ash attempts to fend off the monster (now made a thing of the flesh) as Annie begins to read the passage to open the rift in time. However, before she can finish, Ash's severed hand stabs her with the Kandarian Dagger, leaving Ash to face the demon alone. Annie bravely struggles against death to use her last bit of strength to finish reading the incantation, and the Kandarian Demon is pulled into the vortex. Ash crawls over to Annie's body, congratulating her and saying she did it. Before Ash can leave, he soon realizes the rift is still open as he is caught in the vortex's pull, where he was then teleported to the year 1300 AD.
Legacy[]
At some point after this incident, a Dark One known as Ruby became aware of the events at the cabin, and adopted the alias of "Ruby Knowby". After formally introducing herself to Amanda Fisher, Ruby informed the police officer that she had been hunting Ash Williams for decades, specifically citing the death of her "parents" and "sister" as her motivation.[1]
Two years later, Ash Williams would be reunited with the lost pages of the Necronomicon, and warned the Knights of Sumeria that "the last person who read those wound up with a dagger in their back", referencing Annie Knowby's demise by his severed hand and the Kandarian Dagger.[2]
Abilities[]
- Philology: Being the daughter of an archeologist, Annie could read and translate the incantations found within the Necronomicon, which proved to be extremely useful in her battle against the Kandarian Demon.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Annie is the only character in the Evil Dead films to have a birthday mentioned on-screen.
- Because of the retcon in Ash vs Evil Dead moving the events of The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II to the year 1982, Annie's true age during the events of the film is unknown. Going from the character's birth year of 1962 to the year the film was originally released (1987), she would be 25 years old, though going by the reconned year (1982), she would be only 20.
- In the original first draft of the Evil Dead II script, Annie had no relation to the Knowby family. The character of "Annie MacDonald" was described as 29 years old and a colleague of Ed Getley. It wasn't until the second draft that she was made the daughter of Raymond and Henrietta.
- Annie Knowby makes a cameo appearance in the opening of Army of Darkness, as the film's opening reuses footage from the climax of Evil Dead II.
- Annie also appears in the original opening of Army of Darkness, which uses the scene from Evil Dead II of Ash and Annie modifying the chainsaw in the workshed (though it only uses clips of her hands and back, omitting the close-ups of Annie's face).
References[]
- ↑ Ash vs Evil Dead: Brujo (Season 1, Episode 4) (2015)
- ↑ Ash vs Evil Dead: Tales From The Rift (Season 3, Episode 6) (2018)