The Hessian was a mercenary sent to America by German princes during the Revolutionary War. He is also known as the Headless Horseman and is the secondary antagonist of the 1999 supernatural horror film Sleepy Hollow.
The Hessian is played by Christopher Walken (and Ray Park as The Headless Horseman)
Background[]
Personality[]
The Hessian was shown as a violent individual with an unsatisfiable bloodlust, joining the Revolutionary War simply to kill unlike his fellow mercenary's. He is shown however to care for his horse Daredevil comforting him after he is shot and petting it after he retrieves his head, and he he has his own code of honor, as he will spare children (unless he is forced to) and refrains from attacking Ichabod and co. once his head is retrieved from Lady Van Tassel.
Physical Appearance[]
The Hessian is tall and quite thin man, wearing black and grey armor with a serpentine insignia on the front; he sports black gloves with a draconian insignia on the front lined in red.
He sports a pair of black calf length boots with spurs on the back, waistcoat and a full length cape.
He has jet black hair, ghostly pale skin, piercing blue eyes, pale lips, blackened eyebrows and razor-sharp pointed teeth. He has filed his teeth down to sharp points to make himself look ferocious.
Role in the film[]
The Hessian was a mercenary sent by German princes to help keep America under British rule; unlike the other soldiers he came not for money, but for the love of battle.
He rode a black steed named Daredevil. He was known to ride straight into battle cutting off the heads of enemy soldiers.
Despite his fearsome reputation and being described as a butcher, the Hessian is shown to care greatly for his horse Daredevil. After Daredevil is shot and wounded he comforts the hurt animal. He is also shown letting two young girls live even after they have betrayed his position to pursuing American soldiers.
The Hessian is killed after being ambushed by revolutionary soldiers. They cut his head off with his own sword throwing his body into a shallow grave.
Years later, his ghost is summoned (The Headless Horseman) and controlled through the use of his skull and black magic, making him a weapon for Lady Mary Van Tassel.
Lady Van Tassel reveals that she offered her soul to the devil in order to bring the Hessian back to life, in order to take revenge on the town's folk she blamed for her misery. Under Lady Van Tassels control The Headless Horseman does not kill randomly, instead his victims are picked by her. He executes his targets with cruel efficiency. The Headless Horseman does however kill Brom Bones (who was not a target), only doing so after Brom repeatedly attacks him. This makes Brom the only person to be killed by The Headless Horseman outside of Lady Van Tassels control.
The Hessian is known to kill his targets quickly and skilfully and is shown to have unmatched dexterity. Before his death, the Hessian is shown to hold himself well against a group of American revolutionary soldiers, using his sword and battle axe simultaneously, before being defeated.
The Hessian is also shown to be calculating and innovative. When Baltus Van Tassel hid inside the church to escape him, the Hessian used materials at hand to create a makeshift harpoon using it to pull Lord Van Tassel from the hallowed building. The Hessian then proceeded to drag the unfortunate lord into the fence, where the Horseman beheaded him. In another scene, the Horseman used a makeshift pulley from a rope and a sandbag to quickly gain ground in the of Ichabod, Katrina and Young Masbath in the old windmill.
The Hessian seems to possess great physical strength. He was able to stab Ichabod with his sword and throw him over his shoulder to ground behind without effort. He to was also able to throw a sharp wooden harpoon strong enough to impale Lord Van Tassel even from at a distance, and was also able to destroy the heavy blockade and survive the fire at the windmill.
Once the Hessian reclaimed his missing skull, his head slowly grew back releasing him from Lady Van Tassel's hold. The Hessian is then reunited with Daredevil, while sparing Ichabod, Katrina, and Young Masbath, and he picks up the unconscious Lady Van Tassel from the ground. As the Lady regains consciousness, the Hessian recognizes her as the little girl who had betrayed him to his death.
The Hessian then gives Lady Van Tassel a bloody kiss riding into the Tree of the Dead's gate, taking the unwilling and screaming Lady Van Tassel to Netherworld with him.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- To date this is the only non-speaking role that Christopher Walken has played in a film.
- Prior to this, Walken's character in The Dead Zone is seen reading from the original book.
- The Hessian does not speak, he growls, breaths, and yells ferociously. The reason he doesn't speak is because the teeth he wore made it difficult to speak.
- In another version, the Hessian was instead decapitated by a cannonball.