| Headless Horseman | |
|---|---|
 Beware, the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow... | |
| Information | |
| Alternate Names/Spellings | {{{Alternate Names/Spellings}}} |
| Origins | {{{Origins}}} |
| Alignment | Chaotic Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil |
| Element | |
| Species | Undead, Infernal |
| Appearance | Headless man on horseback... |
Origin[]
The Headless Horseman is a fictional character from the short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by American author Washington Irving. The story, from Irving's collection of short stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., has worked itself into known American folklore/legend through literature and film.
The legend of the Headless Horseman begins in Sleepy Hollow, New York, during the American Revolutionary War. Traditional folklore holds that the Horseman was a Hessian artilleryman who was killed during the Battle of White Plains in 1776. He was decapitated by an American cannonball, and the shattered remains of his head were left on the battlefield while his comrades hastily carried his body away. Eventually they buried him in the cemetery of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, from which each Halloween night he rises as a malevolent ghost, furiously seeking his lost head.
Appearance[]
Naturally, the Headless Horseman is dressed in dark Hessian-era attire.