Horseless Headless Horsemann

Evil-doer
Full Name	Silas Mann
Alias	The Horseless Headless Horsemann HHH
Origin	Team Fortress 2
Occupation	None
Powers / Skills	Enhanced durability Enhanced speed Fear inducement Superhuman strength
Hobby	Killing both the RED and BLU team.
Goals	Unknown
Crimes	Murder
Type of Villain	Ghostly Parody

“	Listen closely! What’s that you hear? Is it the clip clop of haunted hoofs? Nope. It’s the terrifying, completely foot generated clomping of the Horseless Headless Horsemann! He’s come to steal your soul! And, if you have one, your horse!	„
	~ The TF2 Blog

The Horseless Headless Horsemann (real name: Silas Mann) is a non-playable character in the video game Team Fortress 2, appearing as the main antagonist in the 2010 Halloween Mode. He has also appeared during the Scream Fortress events that take place every October, specifically around Halloween.

Background

Though the Horseless Headless Horsemann has no canonical backstory, his living form, Silas Mann, does. He was assumed to be the brother of Zepheniah Mann, but Silas' history within the family is shrouded in mystery. What is known is that he was the co-owner of Zepheniah Mann & Sons. Quarterly Concern, the company that would eventually become Mann Co.

How HHH came to be is currently unknown. However, it is possible that Merasmus and the Bombinomicon had a hand in his manifestation.

Appearance

The Horseless Headless Horsemann has an eerie ghost appearance, simply appearing as a clothed skeleton with a lit, rotting Jack-O-Lantern for a head. He dons a pitch black cloak, glowing purple and ripped, probably from several battles, as they reveal his bony insides. The cloak has no sleeves, revealing his two humeruses, but his forearm bones and hands are coated in pairs of black, leather gloves. He has a belt wrapped around his waist with an axe shaped, evily grinning head for a belt buckle.

Though he has no pants covering his legs besides a few rippings from his cloak hanging down over them, he dons a pair of thick boots and wields his comically large, grinning axe that decapitates all in its way.

Abilities

It is interesting to note that HHH does not trigger a truce between both teams, unlike Merasmus.

If the Horseless Headless Horsemann is unable to find a player, a random player will be tagged “It”, marked with a white skull and crossbones over their head, similarly to the Marked for Death effect applied by the Fan O’War. HHH will proceed to relentlessly chase down this player and slay anyone else who is unfortunate enough to be in his way.

Sometimes, the Horseless Headless Horsemann will release a loud “Boo!” that puts players into a state of fear, indicated by a blue “YIKES!” over their head. While under this effect, a player is unable to attack but can still move and try to get away until the effect runs out. He/she is also put in third-person mode with their hands often over their head, similarly to when a player touches a ghost.

One hit from HHH deals 80% of a player’s health. Since there is no truce while HHH is running around, a player from the other team can finish off someone who was hit before HHH swings his axe again. HHH is guaranteed to kill a player in 2 hits, meaning that not even Heavies can hope to survive in a direct encounter.

Counters

• Keep your distance. Stay out of point blank range and don’t engage HHH in hallways or other tight corridors. It will be easy for him to chase players down that way.
• Keep Medics alive. Übercharge with the stock medigun can keep teammates alive as long as it’s active. Übercharged Heavies can deal a lot of damage to HHH before the effect wears off.
• Never stop moving. Try strafing around him if melee combat is unavoidable. The Headtaker has a deceptively short range, so equipping the Eyelander may be a viable choice.
• Play as Soldier, Scout or Demoman. All of these classes have a quick way of entering and escaping combat. Scout can use his speed to run away, Soldier can rocket jump to reach higher ground, and Demoman can sticky jump to quickly escape at a moment’s notice.
• Equip a banner. While playing as Soldier, banners can help keep teammates alive, with the Concheror being among the more practical choices.
• Try to avoid novelty classes. Sniper and Spy are especially notable examples; While capable of dealing large bursts of damage, Spies have to be dangerously close to HHH while Snipers have to aim for the head and wait until the shot is fully charged, which is difficult to do considering the bosses’ speed. Equip the Huntsman or Dead Ringer in this regard.

List of HHH Maps

The Horseless Headless Horsemann spawns in the following maps...

• Mann Manor
• Carnival of Carnage
• Hellstone
• Gravestone
• Brimstone
• Slasher

Gallery

Images

Videos

TF2 Nightmare on Mann Manor pt.1

TF2 Nightmare on Mann Manor pt.2

Trivia

• It's actually possible to craft his Headtaker. All you need is two refined metal, a Scotman's Skullcutter and a haunted Metal Scrap. It is, by default, an unusual weapon.
• By defeating him, you unlock his head.
• His internal name is “headless_hatman”