- "Although we ended as enemies, William Howe was once a man who commanded my respect."
- —Ichabod Crane[src]
General William Howe was one of the British generals of the War for Independence. He acted as a supernatural specialist for the British Army. He was able to summon monsters and perform dark magic rituals to fight for the British Crown.
History[]
Early Life[]
Howe was known as a War Strategist as well as a supernatural specialist to the British Crown. He was able to transform humans into supernatural creatures. He transformed a former Patriot named Marcus Collins into a Whispering Wraith. He sent him to try to push other Patriots, including Ichabod Crane, into providing names of Patriot supporters in exchange for full immunity for their crimes and securing their leniency. Ichabod served underneath him as a Lieutenant in the British Monarchy. His cause of death is unknown.[1][2]
21st Century[]
As Crane and Abbie searched for the body of Abraham Van Brunt, they stumbled upon the Jeffersonian Team who discovered Howe's body buried underneath an abandoned church in Philadelphia since 1812. They assisted with the investigation in exchange for Howe's body for the Historical Society. Crane even provided Brennan an edict made over 250 years ago by George Washington which declared that Howe be buried in the Colonies, preferably in Sleepy Hollow. The victim was discovered to have been beaten to death with the general's skull after it was used to help the victim communicate with the dead. After the case was solved, Brennan and Booth sent Howe's remains to Sleepy Hollow to the Hudson Valley Historical Society.[3]
When the van carrying Howe's remains was en route to Sleepy Hollow, Pandora stopped the driver and chased him away. Howe was revived by Pandora as a Draugur, a rare breed of undead warriors who swore an oath of duty in life that lasts beyond death. Howe revived an army of British Soldiers as Draugur to assist Pandora in raising the Fear of Death. Crane revealed that he was sent by George Washington to kill Howe during the Invasion of Manhattan. The British forces, under Howe's command took control of the city, forcing the Patriots to retreat. Crane offered to spare his life in exchange for retreating from Manhattan. Howe, after mocking Crane for betraying his country, refused to retreat. Crane was unable to kill Howe and was forced to flee before the British Soldiers reached him. Crane remembered that Howe was unpacking a stone with a Nordic emblem representing the Draugur. The same stone Pandora used to revive Howe as a Draugur. They, after identifying the creatures they are facing, found a message from George Washington which provided clues to methods on how to defeat Howe's Draugur Army. Howe was discovered to have been buried somewhere else before being buried beneath the church in Philadelphia in 1812 Abbie and Crane return to the Jeffersonian with a few fragments of Howe's bones to find the answers they seek. Brennan uses the equipment to find Howe's Primal Tomb. The cancellous bone contained traces of quartz and feldspar; components of sandstone. The composition matches samples from Seneca, Maryland and Montgomery. Sandstone from both areas were used to build the Capitol Building.[2]
Crane and Abbie traveled with Brennan and Booth to Washington D.C. to search for Howe's Primal Tomb. After he and Brennan were imprisoned in a trap made by the Masons, Crane discovered that the only way to destroy Howe's Draugur Army was through Greek Fire, a legendary flame that is impossible to extinguish. Booth was able to release them both by shooting the locks on the trapdoor. Crane discovered that Howe, during the Invasion of Manhattan, had a cadre of Draugur. He desecrated the dead to build an unstoppable army that required an indomitable weapon to stop it. Betsy Ross, after leading Patriots from the Isle of Manhattan, was able to defeat this threat with a crossbow armed with arrows ignited by Greek Fire. Afterwards, the city was set ablaze in The Great Fire of New York; a wildfire whose cause remained a mystery until Crane found the Draugur's weakness. Despite being able to destroy the Draugur, Greek fire burns until nothing remains which imposed a threat to Sleepy Hollow. Howe attempted to lead his army to the main street to shoot a group of trick-or-treaters, but Crane was able to lead Howe and his army beneath the town and into the tunnels. Joe and Jenny used Cheirosiphones; a post-Hellenic weapon designed to deploy Greek fire, to incinerate the Draugur Army without putting the town at risk of being destroyed by Greek Fire. Howe managed to catch up with Crane, but he chose incinerate himself rather than let Crane have the satisfaction of killing him. Brennan and Booth let Abbie and Crane know that they took Howe's Primal Tomb under the Jurisdiction of the Jeffersonian and agreed to remove the Greek Fire, although Brennan believes it to be a type of Napalm. After everything he went through with Howe, Crane was relieved to put that part of his past behind him.[2]
Appearances[]
| Season Three | |||||||||||||||||||
| "I, Witness" | "Whispers in the Dark" | "Blood and Fear" | "The Sisters Mills" | "Dead Men Tell No Tales" | |||||||||||||||
| "This Red Lady from Caribee" | "The Art of War" | "Novus Ordo Seclorum" | "One Life" | "Incident At Stone Manor" | |||||||||||||||
| "Kindred Spirits" | "Sins of the Father" | "Dark Mirror" | "Into the Wild" | "Incommunicado" | |||||||||||||||
| "Dawn's Early Light" | "Delaware" | "Ragnarok" | |||||||||||||||||
| Bones: Season Eleven | ||||
| "The Resurrection in the Remains" | ||||