Tanya

Tanya
Gender	Female
Species	Human
Nationality	American
Status	Deceased
First Appearance	Home Again
Last Appearance	Second Coming
Portrayed By	Sara West

Tanya was a university student, and a pupil of Professor Raymond Knowby. In 1982, Knowby would invite Tanya to his secluded cabin in the woods under the pretense of her being able to earn extra credit for her schooling, though Raymond's true intentions with Tanya involved her becoming the new host of a Deadite spirit which he wanted to remove from his wife.

Tanya first appeared in the Ash vs Evil Dead Season Two episode Home Again. She was portrayed by Sarah West.

Biography

Not much is known about Tanya prior to her journey to the cabin in 1982, save for the fact she was originally from Wisconsin who attended the same university where Professor Raymond Knowby taught, and was enrolled in his archaeology class.

Incident At The Cabin

In the fall of 1982, Raymond Knowby, along with his wife Henrietta, had retreated to their small cabin in the woods with the intent of studying and translating the recently rediscovered Necronomicon Ex-Mortis undisturbed. Corrupted by the dark magic of the Ex-Mortis, Raymond read aloud a passage which awakened the Kandarian Demon, resulting in Henrietta's possession by a Deadite spirit. Unable to bring himself to kill his wife after managing to subdue her in the cabin's cellar, Raymond returned to his university and recruited one of his students, Tanya, under the pretense of her aiding him with translating the Necronomicon for extra credit. Agreeing to Knowby's offer, Tanya accompanied Raymond back to his cabin, where Knowby wasted no time in bringing her into the fruit cellar where Henrietta was kept.

Frightened by the sight of the older woman chained to the wall, Tanya stepped into a bear trap as she tried to escape the cellar, it's metal teeth clamping down around her shin. Successfully trapped, Raymond relayed the story of how the book's dark influence had corrupted him, and how he intended to use her as the new host for the demon which possessed his wife. Unbeknownst to Raymond or Henrietta, a man named Ash Williams had traveled back in time from the 21st Century to prevent his younger counterpart and his friends from discovering the book and ruining his life. Just prior to Raymond and Tanya's arrival, Williams had discovered Henrietta in the cellar, and although he knew that she was possessed, was eventually fooled by the Deadite into releasing her from her chains. After battling back and forth with Henrietta (who scurried off into the depths of the cellar), Ash quickly explained his situation to Tanya has he tried to free her from the bear trap, only for Henrietta to return to continue her onslaught. With Tanya free of the trap, Ash told her to follow Professor Knowby while he dealt with Henrietta, only for Raymond to quickly lock the cellar door behind him before Tanya could give chase.

Cornered on the stairs, Tanya watched as Ash fought the Deadite Henrietta as best he could, though Henrietta would gain the upper hand in the battle, and quickly ran around to the back of the staircase, where she proceeded to pull Tanya into the darkness and attack her. Using the moment to escape back to the cabin's living room, Ash prepared for Henrietta to give chase, only for Tanya's frightened bloody visage to appear in the space between the cellar door and the floor. Before he could unlock the door and help her, Tanya was dragged back into the darkness and killed by Henrietta.

Appearances In Other Media

Commercials

• Tanya (portrayed by Sarah West) makes a non-canon appearance in a faux Shemp's Beer commercial promoting Ash vs Evil Dead Season Two. The commercial sees Tanya crying in the cabin's fruit cellar with the bear trap clasped onto her leg, and trying to ease the pain with the taste of a nice, cool Shemp's.

Video Games

• Tanya (voiced by Theresa Tilly) made a voice cameo in the 2022 video game Evil Dead: The Game in the seventh unlockable "Knowby Tapes" recording. The audio plays out a scene similar to the one featured in the Ash vs Evil Dead episode Home Again, although it describes what would have transpired had Ash Williams not been in the cellar and released Henrietta.

Gallery