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"Mature Content Warning!" |
Lady Mary Van Tassel (formerly known as Mary Archer) is the main antagonist of the 1999 horror film Sleepy Hollow.
She is the second wife of Baltus Van Tassel and the stepmother of Katrina Anne Van Tassel. However, Lady Van Tassel turns out to be secretly an evil witch bent on gaining land rights to herself and revenge against the ones who ruined her family's lives through a string of murders, employing the Headless Horseman's bloodthirsty spirit to do so.
She was portrayed by Miranda Richardson, who also voiced Melisha Tweedy in the Chicken Run duology.
What Makes Her Pure Evil?[]
- While she does have a genuinely tragic backstory of losing her home and being cheated by the Van Garretts, she subverts it by becoming far worse than the Van Garretts themselves. In fact, with the exception of Peter Van Garrett and to a lesser extent, Baltus Van Tassel, everyone she has killed through the Horseman had nothing to do with being forced from her home. In addition, she makes it clear she only really wants revenge for herself and doesn't care so much about her family, assuming she ever did, with this only being further driven home by her quickly and brutally murdering her own sister, her only blood relative left, for a minor reason.
- Even as a child, she was already twisted, as shown when she deliberately snaps a stick to attract the attention of American soldiers to kill the Hessian, then emotionlessly watches as he fights and kills some of them before being overwhelmed and getting executed by decapitation.
- She steals the severed head from the Headless Horseman to take control of him and kill whoever she wants.
- She sells her soul to Satan for selfish purposes, not for revenge.
- She brutally decapitated her sister just because she helped Ichabod Crane and Young Masbath in a small way by directing them to the Horseman's grave.
- She poisons Elizabeth Fenwick-Van Tassel, Baltus Van Tassel's wife, and then marries him only to cover up her identity and to kill them while they were all the less aware.
- She seduces Reverend Steenwyck to corrupt and get him on her side.
- She fearfully forces Notary Handerbruck to calm the servant Sarah, whom she finds useless and insults her.
- She causes beheadings and fear throughout Sleepy Hollow to win the fortune of both the Van Tassels and the Van Garrets, even killing an innocent couple and their young son, as well as a pregnant widow and their unborn child.
- Is indirectly responsible for Brom Van Brunt's death.
- She kills the servant Sarah and puts her clothes on her and cuts her hand to make everyone believe that she has been beheaded.
- She kidnaps Katarina later when she is the last one she needs to kill to secure both fortunes.
- She mocks and sadistically recounts the past to Katrina and Young Masbath, and while she lets them escape, this is only because she had already summoned the horseman to go after them, who would inevitably find and kill them, which she taunts as they run off.
- She tries to kill Ichabod by shooting him when he becomes a nuisance to her.
External Links[]
- Lady Van Tassel on the Villains Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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