Ludwig Geppetto

**Ludwig Geppetto** (ルートヴィヒ・ゼペット, *Rūtovīhi Zepetto*?) is the main antagonist in The Hunters Guild: Red Hood series.

He is a former hunter and the second Red Hood who served as the mayor of Kasoka Village under the fake name of **Hech Horlock** (ヘック・ホーロック, *Hekku Hōrokku*?).

## Appearance

Ludwig is a large, burly man who towers over everyone around him. He can usually be found with a wide toothy grin on his face, and dresses in an oversized black coat and coontail cap.

The Mayor arrives.
## Personality

Ludwig is a jolly, good-natured man. He has been the mayor of his village for several years and does his best to take care of it. The mayor is willing to make whatever self-sacrifices necessary to protect his village, even going as far as selling his own house and all of his sheep.

However, in reality Ludwig is more than he seems...

## Synopsis

### History

Ludwig was a member of the Hunters Guild, but eventually became the mayor of Kasoka Village. At a later point in time, he slayed the beast who murdered young Velou's parents.

He is actually over 500 years old and participated in the extermination of the Dragons, being one of the main responsibility for their extinction through the use of the True book.

### Part 1: Werewolf Hunting

Years later, his hamlet was once again terrorized, this time by a werewolf. As a result, almost all of the village's hunters were wiped out. In desperation, the mayor hired a hunter from the Hunters Guild to rid Kasoka Village of the ferocious beast. However, the huntress turned out to be a little girl, making many villagers upset and angry. This included Velou, who was furious at the huntress's mercantile nature. Ludwig stopped the young man from hurting anyone and tasked him with guiding her to the mountain hut. Some short time after Grimm and Velou left the hamlet, the mayor was attacked and seemingly devoured by his wife, who turned out to be the werewolf.

### Part 2: The Outside World

It was later revealed that Ludwig had somehow survived, and was seen sitting on the werewolf Lycaon's tail while he and Cinderella were observing the travelling Ironworks and discussing Velou. During his conversation with the Red List members, it was revealed that he is working with them towards some goal for which purpose he has been guiding Velou's life.

## Abilities

**Immense Strength**: Ludwig is incredibly strong, as he was able to take down the werewolf that killed Velou's parents using two axes.

**Axe proficiency:** Ludwig uses axes as his weapon of choice. As a former hunter, Ludwig is very skilled being capable of slaying a werewolf even in his old age.

### Magic

**Fate manipulation:** After bertaying the Hunterguild, Ludwig stole some pages from the True Book. With their power, Ludwig can control the fate of the world to some extent. He used their power in order to change Velou's fate and make him destined to be the next Red Hood in the place of Grimm.

**Memory manipulation:** Ludwig can manipulate people's memories. This was shown when he erased Cinderella memories of their conversation in order to prevent her from getting in his way.

**Space manipulation:** Ludwig can open portals in order to cross large distances in a short period of time. His magic is very powerful, allowing him to even invade the hunters guild headquarters.

## Equipment

The axes are made out of Wolfonium, making them very effective against werewolves.

## Trivia

* His fake name was first revealed by Yuki Kawaguchi in an author comment from Issue #35 of Weekly Shonen Jump, 2021.