some of you may or may not know the legend of Lobo King of Currumpaw so here is a brief synopsis of the story which then segways into how he’s portrayed in fate/ canon, his bond ce, and how they tie him into the legend of Sleepy Hollow ( which, in turn, affects his np ). Anyway this got long so have a readmore...
Lobo is a wolf long feared within his legend. He is refered to as a king in his own right with good reason --- Lobo for years keeps his small pack safe from the humans who appear over the decade trying to trap and / or poison them. Some of these traps are truly insane, even more so how Lobo has a sense for exactly where they will be.
But it is the last trapper who is the most important. In his canon no one is sure whether Blanca is Lobo’s mate or not ( it is widely speculated as true but there was no real proof of the fact ). The last trapper uses this against him in quite a vile way. Noticing a smaller set of tracks periodically running in front of Lobo’s own the trapper goes about killing a cow and severing it’s head. Around the cow he sets obvious traps and poisons Lobo is going to notice and keep his pack from approaching, but a bit off from the body he sets about the head of the cow with much more hidden traps. This trap he spends time dusting with the scent of blood and coyote so that the humans own scent ( alongside the metal ) is hidden to any nose not Lobo’s own. Blanca --- having run off from the pack --- gets caught in the smaller, less obvious ploy.
Not only is she left in that trap for over a day but when they finally catch up to her --- having pulled the trap out of the ground, dragging it behind her --- their method of killing Blanca is disgusting. They bring her back to their camp and wait. This is when Lobo truly loses his caution and goes on a rampage. The following day the trapper goes about setting stronger, larger traps to catch him and dusts them each with Blanca’s pelt. Not only do they eventually catch Lobo in the traps ( searching for his mate he knows is dead ) but they get a bear trap basically on each paw and leave him there for over two days --- he had tracked to the spot from where the humans had killed Blanca. Instead of killing him outright they tie him up and drag him back to the camp where hes then tied to a post. He dies attached to that post looking out across the plains his pack called home. [ read the end here ].
Not only does this describe his design --- one trap on each paw, a wolf over twice the size and with twice the cunning of a normal wolf --- but it also described his vengeance. He dies in anger over what the humans did both to Blanca ( which honestly was more brutal then it needed to be ) and himself. Lobo’s resentment and anger lies from years of humans trying to kill both him and his pack and for the brutal way they go about killing Blanca and himself. Avengers are vengeful spirits and Lobo certainly holds a lot of resentment. Then there’s his bond ce which I have the translation for below:
--- If you open your eyes, you will be greeted with the sight of a far-off wilderness.
The nostalgic feel of the soil, the wind tickling your ears, the sight of that beloved existence leaping gracefully towards you.
This is the lost, distant memory of something that no longer exists. Not something that was stolen, but something that you should have thrown away.
To whomover has brought me here... my gratitude.
Humans and beasts, unable to understand each other, are destined to face and kill one another. Though you can understand that fate, nothing can be done.
I tell to you, who accepts all of this...
This is the place I once lived.
Not only is it Blanca running across the front of his bond ce --- which I almost want to say is a testament to both his love for her and the fact her running ahead is what eventually killed them both --- but its looking out on the plains he presided over. The ce straight up describes the scene he died looking out to. Which while heartbreaking gives a view into his own view of what happened to him and how much he remembers ( since it seems to me that Lobo fusing with the partial spirit riding him would certainly give rise to issue --- but I’ll get into that in a minute ). For Lobo looks back on the memory with fondness but I like to think he doesn’t quite understand why it brings about anger as well. He knows the humans did something and he remembers someone important to himself was killed off --- clearly stated he remembers Blanca [ here ] --- but his anger blinds a lot of what he should remember in a way that drives his want for retribution. Which is why he is not fond of the people who approach him ( especially considering animals have a better sense of who has bad intentions ).
Now, there are a lot of variation in the interpretation and understanding of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the Headless Horseman. Fate/ clearly went ahead and made him a minor detail, but if I’m being honest I interpret it as adding another bigger part to Lobo’s story. Yes, the Headless Horseman is of course a vengeful spirit ( he’s off looking for his lost head thanks canon ball ) but the story more inspires fear then inhabits it. The Headless Horseman is more or less a spirit that isn’t looking to do much but there is also the interpretation that he is a fore bringer of death. A malevolent ghost looking to seek vengeance against those who took his head and to bring justice on those who commit “capital crimes.” Thinking back to how Lobo was not given that justice having the Hessian soldier ( the Headless Horseman ) as a duel spirit both adds to his own anger. Seeking revenge, seeking justice, and in some lore the actual hero of the story.
This is, of course, tied into Lobo’s np.
Frieren Scharfrichter --- An Execution Towards A Far Away Person
A conviction of resentment that gave shape to these two’s desire for revenge. Although it does not have as much power as the reversal of causality, a situation in which ｢it becomes easy to cut off heads｣ is created by adding a subtle deviation on the world within the range of the Noble Phantasm. Reap heads with a single strike. A severing-kill Noble Phantasm.
This screams more Headless Horseman then Lobo ( which is seen more so in the twos lore and the bond ce ). I also think this is a testament to the fact a severed head is what kills Lobo in the end as well. The np is a straight up and brutal single blow decapitation. The summary also says it holds the rage of them both leading it to be safely assumed that while they are two separate beings they are also in a way combined. I honestly see this as a memory tie ( if anyone knows the Eragon books how the dragon and rider share a mental bond that, in the end, ties their lives, thoughts, and emotions / etc together ). Clearly Lobo is the dominant spirit but the Headless Horseman’s traits shine though. Leaving a spirit with the anger ten fold of any other. Which, of course, lays in the truth of the Avenger class:
— Vigilante and Heroic Spirit of Vengeance. Vindictive warriors that bear great hatred in the past, the embodiment of hatred itself. The dark side of the Holy Grail, which is the contents in the cup. —
Old Lobo, or the king, as the Mexicans called him was the gigantic leader of a remarkable pack of gray wolves, that has ravaged the Currumpaw Valley for a number of years. All the shepherds and ranchmen knew him well, and, wherever he appeared with his trusty band, terror reigned supreme among the cattle, and wrath and despair among their owners. Old Lobo was a giant among wolves, and was cunning and strong in proportion to his size. His voice at night was well-known and easily distinguished from that of any of his fellows. An ordinary wolf might howl half the night about the herdsman's bivouac without attracting more then a passing notice, but when the deep roar of the old king came booming down the canon, the watcher bestirred himself and prepared to learn in the morning that fresh and serious inroads had been made among the herds.
so like, first of all this is golden and I’m only a few paragraphs in, but also later on it’s stated ". . .They scorned all hunters, derided all poisons, and continued, for at least five years, to exact their tribute from the Currumpaw ranchers. . ." so like not only he is a literal giant ( its stated early on in the book he’s a giant among giants ) but his strength in mind and body is proportional to his size which holy heck
