Horseless Headless Horsemann

“

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

”

The Horseless Headless Horsemann is a neutral enemy in Mann Manor, released with the Scream Fortress update. The not-quite-dead form of [Mann], he appears at random on the currently contested control point, after which he will proceed to hunt down and kill any player on either team until he is killed (again). It is unknown exactly how much damage he can do, but it is presumed to be over 1250 per swipe (as the Dead Ringer fails to work against him).

Players too close to the monstrosity when it makes a kill may be designated as "It", whereupon they become the primary target. The current "It" is marked with a floating white skull-and-crossbones symbol (previously only 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.

If no one is "It", he may perform a "Boo" taunt. He crouches over arms spread wide, releasing a loud ghostly "BOO!" and scaring anyone in range 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 is for whoever is "It" to retreat from the Horsemann while all other players inflict damage upon him.
• If it's in you and your team's best interests, have a Scout who is "It" flee while the Horsemann pursues him near your team's spawn room. If not, then lure the Horsemann towards the enemy team's spawn room to provide a distraction.
• Playing as Scout while "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 Horsemann is unable to reach you while you are standing on the roof of the second control point. You can safely deal damage to him from there without putting yourself in harm's way.
• The Spy's Backstab takes away 1000 of his health; with five to ten backstabs, he will fall. However, try to be careful, as Spies are ill-equipped to attack him unless he's distracted.
• Using the Pyro against the Horseless Headless Horsemann is not recommended. Not only does the Horsemann not suffer afterburn damage, but the short effective range of the Pyro makes attacking head-on a very deadly prospect. However, using the Backburner while he is distracted will still take him down quickly.
• 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.
• As the Engineer, Sentry Guns will not automatically target the Horsemann. You can use the Wrangler to slow down the Horsemann. Although the knockback effect of the Sentry doesn't work, the Sentry can still hurt him.
• 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 Horsemen is out. Use this time to take control of the point while the enemy is distracted!

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 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.
• 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.
• By using the console command "ent_create headless_hatman", it's possible to spawn the Horseless Headless Horsemann in any map. However, like other bots, he won't move or attack unless the map has nav meshes.