Horseless Headless Horsemann

“

This is my world! You are not welcome in my world! Click to listen — The Soldier on undead horseless horsemenn

”

The Horseless Headless Horsemann is a neutral enemy in Mann Manor, released with the Scream Fortress update. The not-quite-dead form of Silas Mann appears randomly on the currently contested control point. After a pre-determined time, he is allowed to spawn in, after which he will proceed to hunt down and kill any player on either team until he is defeated. It is currently unknown exactly how much damage he can do, but it is presumed to be over 1250 per swipe (as evidenced by the fact that a Dead Ringer user will not survive from the attack).

Players too close to the monstrosity when it makes a kill will be designated as "It", whereupon they become the primary target. The current "It" is marked with a floating white skull-and-crossbones symbol (the same symbol used for the G.R.U.). The person marked as "It" can pass on their status by smacking someone on the opposing team with their melee weapon. After 30 seconds, the Horsemann will abandon chasing whoever is "it". He will then choose the first player that is within range as the new "it".

If no one is "It", he may perform a "Boo" taunt. He crouches and then spreads his arms wide, releasing a loud ghostly "BOO!" and scaring anyone in a range of 500 units. This is similar to the Ghost's effect and also grants the Scared Stiff Scarechievement. Wearing the Horseless Headless Horsemann's Head provides immunity from being scared in this way.

Contributing in killing the Horseless Headless Horsemann awards the Sleepy Holl0wnd achievement and drops the Horseless Headless Horsemann's Head hat. If a player delivers a single blow with a melee weapon he will drop an Unusual Haunted Metal Scrap, specifically when the Horsemann "shivers" when he is about to die. Contributing to the kill is not specific to melee or ranged damage. Dealing damage in any form to him awards you with credit for his death if you are alive at the time of his death.

The Horseless Headless Horsemann has a base health of 3000, increasing by 200 per player in the server, making his maximum possible health a massive 7800 (24-player server) or an even higher 9400 (32-player server). The horseman spawns every 8 minutes (plus or minus 1 minute). He will not spawn if there are under 10 players in the server (meaning the minimum health would be 5000).

Strategy

Damage graph showing the number of players, vs. health of the Horsemann.

• One basic strategy for "It" is to act as bait for the Horsemann while all other players inflict as much damage as they can.
• Another is to have a Heavy/Medic duo camp the control point where he will spawn next, building up a Kritzkrieg charge, and unleashing it upon him spawning, killing him after his spawn animation is complete.
• It might be a good idea for a Scout who is "It" to flee while the Horsemann pursues him towards your team's spawn room. If not, then lure the Horsemann towards the enemy team's spawn room to provide a distraction.
• A Scout can keep the Horsemann running back and forth at the Control Point nearest to Red team's spawn by jumping over the bottomless pits, and then jumping back over them when the Horsemann gets close.
• Playing as Scout while being "It" allows you to dodge the Horsemann's attacks and pursuits due to your agility and ability to double/triple jump. As a Demoman using the Chargin' Targe, it is also possible to outrun him by charging repeatedly in a single direction across open ground.
• The Spy's Backstab takes away 1000 of his health, however, he will immediately be the next target of the Horsemann. However, the Horsemann can be defeated with five to ten backstabs. However, try to be careful, as Spies are ill-equipped for fighting him unless he's distracted; even with a Dead Ringer, the Horsemann's hit will kill you.
• Because the Horsemann does not suffer afterburn damage, using the Pyro against the Horseless Headless Horsemann is not recommended. In addition, the short effective range of the Pyro makes attacking head-on a very deadly prospect. However, using the Backburner while he is distracted can be effective in defeating him.
• Using the Scottish Resistance, the Demoman can deal a considerable amount of damage with multiple stickybombs. Use the increased firing rate of the Scottish Resistance to your advantage. You can also plant stickybombs to the Horsemann's spawning point before he appears. This would deal a huge amount of damage in an instant.
• As the Engineer, Sentry Guns will not target the Horsemann. However, you can use the Wrangler to hurt and slow down the Horsemann. The Horsemann's is not affected by the sentry's knockback.
• As a Scout you can use Bonk! Atomic Punch if you are "it" to distract the Horsemann to aid your team although this would run out over time so caution is advised.
• The Horsemann has a specific search radius around the active control point. It is possible to stop him chasing you by running away from the control point and evading him until he loses interest in you. This will cause him to attack someone else, or if there is nobody in his search radius, to run back and stand upon the control point to await more victims.
• The control points are still active while The Horsemann is out. Use this time to take control of the point while the enemy is distracted!
• A strategy regarding RED on C is to stay as close as possible to spawn and retreat into the spawn as soon as a player on said team is 'IT'; this way, the HHH will spend most of the time chasing BLU, thus defending your point. This strategy works great with Sentry Guns aiming at the point.
• The Horsemann sees through the Spy's invisibility.
• Though the HHH can chase IT onto the roof of B, he cannot chase a player onto the roofs of the buildings near it, therefore it is still possible to deal damage without the risk of being killed.
• The Horsemann appears to be completely immune to most, if not all, status ailments such as being coated in Jarate, Mad Milk, afterburn, Natascha slowdown, The Sandman's ball, knockback, and headshots. It is unknown if the Horsemann is unaffected by damage rampup and falloff or Critical hits like Engineer buildings or not.
• Dealing damage to the Horsemann as a Soldier with the Buff Banner equipped will not add to the player's Rage Meter.

Related Achievements

Sleepy Holl0WND Kill the Horseless Headless Horsemann. Reward: Horseless Headless Horsemann's Head

Gored! Collect the Horseless Headless Horsemann's Haunted Metal Scrap.

Trivia

• The Horseless Headless Horsemann is a parody of the Headless Horseman from the story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.
• A belt identical to The Horsemann's is attached to the Ghastlier Gibus.
• The Horseless Headless Horsemann's mechanics are similar to a community made mod called VS. Saxton Hale, in which everyone is on RED except Saxton Hale, who is able to instantly kill anybody with a single hit, as well as startle groups of enemies.
• The Horsemann appears to use 2 different Demoman animations, specifically, the Bottle animations when turning around on the spot to attack his next target and majority of the Eyelander animations for his attacks and movement.
• The Animation the Horsemann uses when walking changes depending on how much health he has. After he loses a certain percentage of health ( currently not known, presumably 50%) he stops using the Eyelander/Skullcutter walk animation and starts using the Bottle/Pain Train/Frying Pan walk animation.
• The Horsemann will not cause damage notifications to show up on any player's screen (the same applies with the hit sound).
• The Horsemann is purple and leaves a purple glow, perhaps referencing the fact that he is on neither RED or BLU and, therefore, targets both teams. Additionally, he leaves a trail of smoking purple footprints, allowing him to be easily tracked.
• By using the console command "ent_create headless_hatman", it's possible to spawn the Horseless Headless Horsemann in any map (requires cheats). However, like other bots, he won't move or attack unless the map has nav meshes.
• The Horsemann kill's count as enviromental deaths. Therefore achievements such as Foul Territory for the Scout can be achieved by bonking some one about to be killed by the Horsemann.

Presumably Silas Mann as he appears in the Family Portrait. The characters in the portrait above the fireplace are currently unknown.

• The Horseless Headless Horsemann is referred to in the game files as "Hatman", presumably because of his role in providing the players with a free hat, should they kill him.
• The Horsemann has several unused animations that can be found in the game files. These include the "Cheers" thumbs up action and Medic calls. This is due to the Horsemann using many of the Demoman's original animations.
  • There is also an unused jump animation, also left over from the Demoman. This animation is unused as the Horsemann never actually jumps, though he will fall from a higher level if he is chasing someone. He will otherwise walk around height obstacles or change his target.
• Originally, it was possible to evade the Horsemann by staying on the roof of point B, as he would fall through the playerclip ladder. This was fixed in an update on 28th October 2010.