Headless Horseman-Portrait

Here's another underappreciated Disney villain, the horrifying Headless Horseman, scourge of Sleepy Hollow and nemesis of one very superstitious school master.

Once again, we have a character that appears for just a few brief minutes at the very end of a feature, and yet he leaves such a strong impression. The film slowly rachets up tension to his appearance and once he shows up it goes full throttle into a terrifying life or death chase.

Some people debate whether or not this was actually Brom Bones in disguise trying to give Ichabod Crane the fright of his life but recall there's a moment when Ichabod gets a look down the Horseman's collar and whatever he sees in there absolutely terrifies him. No tricks here, I think. This guy is 100% supernatural.

Also worth noting, the Horseman has possibly the best evil laughter in the history of the business.

I find myself once again thinking of what fun this guy could've been in a Kingdom Hearts game as the boss of some kind of chase minigame where you have to try and stay ahead of him (ha!), dodge his sword swipes and get a few shots in on him as you race toward the bridge. Could've been a real adrenaline rush.