Tanya Robertson
Tanya Robertson is a fictional character from the 1992 fantasy horror film Sleepwalkers. The character, created by the author Stephen King and portrayed by Mädchen Amick, serves as the protagonist of the 1992 film. In the film, Tanya is a sexually curious virgin who unwittingly falls for a Sleepwalker—nomadic, shapeshifting energy vampires who feed off the life force of virginal women.
Character arc
In Sleepwalkers, Tanya Robertson is first seen working the night shift at an empty local theater dancing but is startled by Charles Brady, who is a new student in her creative writing class. He offers to take her home but she declines because her father picks her up from work. The next day, during her creative writing class, she is mesmerized by the story that Charles reads in front of the class. Charles seems romantically interested in Tanya but this is only because he needs her life-force for both himself and his mother, Mary, who is starving. Tanya is unaware of the real reason Charles is interested in her. At first, it seems that Charles has genuinely fallen in love with her. On their first date, Charles attempts to drain her life-force while kissing her. Tanya defends herself from Charles by bashing his head with her camera, scratching his face, and plunging a corkscrew into his left eye, which merely seem to annoy him.When Tanya flees for help, Deputy Sheriff Andy Simpson pulls over. Charles attacks Simpson and kills him. When Charles then turns to resume feeding off of Tanya, the deputy’s cat, Clovis, attacks him and violently scratches him in the face and chest which mortally wounds him. Knowing that the only way for her dying son to survive is to feed, Mary attacks the Robertson household, killing several deputies and state troopers and severely wounding Tanya’s parents. She kidnaps Tanya and takes her back to her house. Charles is near death, but Mary revives him, and Charles makes a final attempt to drain Tanya’s life force. However, Tanya plunges her fingers into his eyes, killing him. Tanya manages to escape with the help of the sheriff who is later impaled by Mary on the picket fence surrounding the house. The now large number of cats that have been gathering around their house throughout the movie, led by Clovis, all jump on Mary and claw her in a violent attack until she bursts into flames. As she dies, she screams that Tanya "killed her only son". Tanya is last seen holding Clovis while the other cats depart.