- "Judging by the appearance of the victims, Ansel is clearly wielding dark magic. Your men do not stand a chance against him."
- —Ichabod Crane to Malcolm Dreyfuss[src]
Ansel appears in season four of Sleepy Hollow. He was originally partners with Malcolm Dreyfuss and was co-founder of the company, and in fact, overshadowed Malcolm from the onset. Then Malcolm made a deal with a demon to get rid of Ansel. Ansel was then banished to Hell, but once he escaped, he learned how to use sigils branded upon his body by demons and weaponized them in order to obtain the Philosopher's Stone.
History[]
As young men, Ansel was best friends with Malcolm Dreyfuss. The two of them created a business together; Malcolm was the brains of the operation and Ansel dealt with the social part of the business. Over time, people saw Ansel as the face of the business, and Malcolm became a kind of back ground shadow. Resenting their roles, Malcolm drank himself stupid, and drove off in a rage, but crashed his car. As he was dying, he begged for rescue, and a demon appeared. It made a deal with Malcolm; for Malcolm's soul, they will save him, and get rid of Ansel, leaving the business to Malcom. Malcolm signs on the dotted line, and Jobe takes Ansel to Hell.
In Hell,demons brand his body with demonic sigils. Eventually, however, Ansel escapes Hell. Over time, he learns about his demonic sigils and how to use them so that when he is ready, he can use the Philosopher's Stone to change his scarred appearance and become immortal.[1]
Revenge[]
After locating one of the talismans, Ansel sees Jobe leave the location. He hits Jobe and tells him to surrender to the pain, then hits him again with a club inscribed with mystic runes. He knocks Jobe out after taunting him. He takes the talisman and touches a blood rune on his arm. Fire bursts out, and Ansel says that he learned much from Jobe in Hell and it's time to put the lessons to use.
Ansel then goes to Dreyfuss to obtain the other talismans. He pulls up to the business in a delivery van without an ID. When the guard approaches, Ansel gestures and kills the guard, then drives into the facility.
Ansel enters the server room of the building. The building goes into lock down when he breaches security, and he is locked out of the system. Ansel realizes that Malcolm knows that he is there, and reveals himself to the camera. Moments later, guards storm in but they are no match for Ansel; he activates one of the runes on his body and all of them die. He then makes a hole in the wall of the server room and attaches Greek fire bombs to the support beams, so when he detonates them, the entire building will be engulfed in an unquenchable fire.
Ansel appears in Malcolm's office and a terrified Malcolm pretends delight, and says that it's a miracle. His former partner tells him to shut up, that Malcolm has gotten overconfident. Malcolm says that he has always been better than Ansel, and Ansel agrees. Malcolm replied that no one took him seriously while Ansel was around, and he was the brains behind everything. The sigils on Ansel glow red, and Ansel says that he suffered in Hell when Malcolm banished him there. Each day a new demon burned its name into his flesh. When he escaped helearned how to use the sigils, and he magically chokes Malcolm with one of them.[1]
Malcolm asks what Ansel wants. Ansel says he wants his life back. He grabs Malcolm by the throat and demands the other pieces of the talisman. Crane and Diana arrive and Diana orders Ansel to drop Malcolm. He releases the CEO, and turns to face them. Crane says that they found the Greek fire and disabled it. Ansel chokes Malcolm again as Malcolm tries to crawl away. He stops Diana's bullet in mid-air when she shoots at him. He then invokes a heart attack against her, and Crane hits him with a sculpture to disrupt his concentration.
As Malcolm gets to the elevator, Crane picks up Diana and gets in with Malcolm. The doors close just as Ansel revives, and they take the elevator to the basement vault. Ansel burns through the elevator door and takes the other two talismans. He assembles them and realizes that one piece is missing. Ansel follows Malcolm and tells them that once the artifact is restored, his life can be restored. He explains that the artifact is the Philosopher's Stone, the most powerful artifact known to man, and it will give him life eternal. Crane realizes that Malcolm was trying to cheat the devil by cheating death, and Ansel invokes one of the sigils.
Crane grabs one of the weapons but Ansel immobilizes him. Jenny arrives and utters the incantation to stop the sigil activation. Ansel screams in agony and collapses, but pulls out a vial of Greek fire and prepares to throw it. Crane grabs a dagger and throws it at Ansel as Diana runs forward and catches the vial as it falls from Ansel's hand. Malcolm slips away in the confusion, taking the Stone with him.[1]
Trivia[]
- The name Ansel is derived from the given name Anselm. Anselm is derived from the Germanic elements ans "god" and helm "helmet, protection". [2]
Appearances[]
| Season Four | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Columbia" | "In Plain Sight" | "Heads of State" | "The People vs. Ichabod Crane" | "Blood from a Stone" | |||||||||||||||
| "Homecoming" | "Loco Parentis" | "Sick Burn" | "Child's Play" | "Insatiable" | |||||||||||||||
| "The Way of the Gun" | "Tomorrow" | "Freedom" | |||||||||||||||||