Headsman

**Headsmen** are a class of humanoid enemies the player encounters in HROT. Making their debut in the first level of episode two as one of the most featured main enemies of said chapter of the game. Likewise, they seem very distinct from most usual enemies due to the also different settings in which they appear in.

## Appearance

Headsmen are seen wearing brown robes over their bodies, giving them a monk-like appearance also remarked by the rope-like belt they wear around to keep the robes closed.

One of their most distinctive features is of course their face mask, a seemingly simple pointed canvas bag-like cover with holes carved for their eyes to see their environments.

Headsmen usually yell when they detect the player and proceed to attack them. As with most enemies in the game, they can attack either on their own or in groups between themselves or with other different enemies.

## Variants

Headsmen come in two base variants - melee and gunner - and two 'rider' variants:

* Melee. This variant is armed with an axe that serves as his main weapon. Will leap forward to close the distance if the player is too far away, or to climb a ledge. Watch out for this, as the leap is also a powerful attack. He can also throw grenades on occasion. Rarely drops a shotgun or some shells upon dying.
* Gunner. This variant is armed with a double-barreled shotgun, and sometimes a cannon. Unlike his melee counterpart, he will not leap at the player, instead preferring to flank and shoot them. He also throws grenades, but prefers the cannon. Usually drops a double-barreled shotgun or shells upon death.
* Rider. Not a standalone variant per say. This guy rides a Gimp, wields a riding crop to motivate his mount when it's stunned, and is armed with a shotgun that he will sometimes use to attack the player. Once Gimp dies, the Rider will continue to attack the player on foot, like a regular melee or gunner variant.
* Biker. Similar to the Rider, the Biker is not a standalone variant. Unlike the Rider, the Biker mounts a motorcycle and will attempt to run the player over instead of shooting them. If the motorcycle is destroyed and the Biker survives, he will proceed to attack the player on foot as a melee or gunner variant.

## Tactical Analysis

Headsmen as stated before are agile when chasing after the player to attack them noticeable with their constant running and high jumps to attack the player, especially in their melee variant.

As with most other enemies, they can be seen guarding and/or patrolling various areas in the game's levels either alone or in groups. The same can be observed when attacking as they can be individual opponents or coordinate group attacks.

They're relatively weak as they have low health and seemingly not much proper protection gear so a few pistol rounds and/or shotgun blasts are more than enough to quickly deal with them.

## Appears In

* E2M1: Tocnik
* E2M3: Velhartice
* E2M5: Kasperk Castle (rides Gimp)
* E2MS: Tunnel
* E2M7: The Granny's Valley (rides a motorcycle)

## Lore

* As they mostly lived in medieval times, their technological advancements and weaponry are fairly limited compared to more contemporary equipment yet they developed very iconic armament seen in HROT such as their Hand Cannons, Crossbows , and War Wagons.
* Even though they seem to belong to a time period centuries before the game's events, they're seen using contemporary weaponry such as Brnos and Grenades.
* The developer mentioned at the HROT official Discord server that **Headsmen** can mount on Horses.
	+ This proved to be at least somewhat true, as Headsmen are seen riding Gimps.
* He also made two tweets at different points that show enemies that are very early incarnations of the headsman, one being in one of the earliest showcased bits of development of the game and the other was before the release of episode 2.
* Headsman is the only enemy that actually speaks aloud, exclaiming **Zabít!** (**Kill!**) and **Zabijte narušitele!** (**Kill the intruder!**) when attacking the Player.

Enemies

Humanoids