Origin
General Hume's Four Horsemen were banded during the events of the Civil War; General Hume had been recruiting soldiers who were the best of the best, cold killers who had no sense of mercy or forgiveness for their actions in war. Once he had joined together a group of men he informed them of his plans to gather The Six and use them to recreate the world in their image. Once the Civil War had ended this group still worked together in order to serve General Hume.
Creation
General Hume's Four Horsemen were created by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt for usage in their comic, The Sixth Gun. They serve as the villains during the first few story arcs in the series, battling against Drake Sinclair and his allies in an attempt to secure all of The Six.
The team is modeled after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in namesake and in their style.
Team Evolution
The team was originally created during the Civil War and the most bloodthirsty and merciless men were recruited by General Hume to serve him.
The original team roster was as such:
However; Drake Sinclair quickly left the group after learning the true purpose behind it. Due to his subordination, he was hunted down by the other members of the group. While he wasn't found, the weapon he was to be given was handed off to Missy Hume, the wife of General Hume.
After Sinclair's departure the core group was as follows:
- Bloodthirsty Bill - The wielder of The One; one of the Six, it has the power to fire projectiles with the force and effect of a canon. He remained on the team until he was killed by Billjohn O'Henry during the Battle of the Maw.
- Bitter Ridge - The Wielder of The Fourth; one of the Six, it has the power to summon the spirits of those who were killed by the weapon. He remained on the team until he was killed by Drake Sinclair after falling into one of his traps, before the Battle of the Maw.
- Filthy Ben - The Wielder of The Third; one of the Six, it has the power to infect it's target with a flesh eating disease. He remained on the team until he was killed by Drake Sinclair during the Battle of the Maw.
- Will Arcene - The Wielder of The Second; one of the Six, it has the power to shoot the Flames of Perdition. He remained on the team until he was killed by a Thunderbird.
While Missy Hume replaced Drake Sinclair, she was never really one of the horsemen. She wielded The Fifth, it had the power of eternal life and would heal the wielder of any wounds. She shared a common goal with the Horsemen and wished to bring her late husband, General Hume, back to life.
Major Story Arcs
Cold Dead Fingers
General Hume has been brought back from the dead, and his Horsemen are at his side while they search for Becky Montcrief, wielder of The Sixth, General Hume's former weapon. With the aid of Missy Hume, General Hume's wife, the Horsemen are able to capture Becky; however, with the help of Drake Sinclair and Billjohn O'Henry, she is able to escape.
During this escape the Horsemen attack, destroying the town of Brimstone in the process. The Horsemen then begin to track the movements of Drake and his companions as they move towards the Maw. In their travels the group comes across the territory of the Thunderbird, which winds up killing one of their members, Will Arcene.
Dwindling in numbers, the group continues to pursue Sinclair and his compatriots; however, another Horsemen, Bitter Ridge, falls into one of Sinclair's traps, thus killing him. This leaves only two Horsemen alive when they finally reach the Maw. Bloodthirsty Bill and Filthy Ben stand strong as they attack the Maw and it's inhabitants, set on killing Drake Sinclair. Unfortunately for Filthy Ben, Drake Sinclair is smarter than he anticipated, which results in the death of Ben, leaving only Bloodthirsty Bill as the final horseman.
In a final shootout, both Bloodthirsty Bill and Billjohn fatally wound the other, Bloodthirsty Bill is killed when Billjohn fires a cannon through his chest, and Billjohn is killed by Drake Sinclair, who uses the powers of The Fourth to bind his soul to the weapon. The Battle of the Maw marked the end of General Hume's Four Horsemen and their weapons were taken by Drake Sinclair.
Ghost Dance
An alternate version of General Hume's Four Horsemen are seen during Becky Montcreif's spirit walk, it is shown that they would exist if Drake Sinclair had been killed after he deserted them during the civil war.
While they are all the same people they have slightly different character designs and are more polished in appearance. It is also shown that Bloodthirsty Bill has become more metal than man in this alternate timeline.
Sons of the Gun
An origin story for General Hume's Four Horsemen, Sons of the Gun focuses on each member of the Four Horsemen and what they had done in the absence of General Hume following his death.
Bloodthirsty Bill had been cursed; thus he searched the desert for Azad's Fountain, a mystical fountain with waters that had been rumored to lift any curses or spells placed on a man; however, this was shown to be untrue thus leaving Bill unsatisfied. He joined up with a man named Pagan Sam and his gang of raiders, but killed Sam after he had tried to steal his weapon, once he had killed the men he once worked with he located the weapon of Filthy Ben.
Filthy Ben had tried to deny his weapon; however, it's effects had taken its toll on Ben's body thus putting him in immense pain. Ben claimed that he was a different person during the war and that he didn't want the gun, but Bill pushed it on him and told him he had to accept who he was. Ben attempted to lead a normal life and wrote to a woman he loved, but due to the effects the weapon had on him she believed him to be a monster, upset and pained emotionally, he decided to accept the weapon back into his life and claim his destiny as one of the horsemen.
Will Arcene attempted to return to his home; however he was plagued by an unstoppable hunger, no matter how much he ate he always wanted more. He wound up killing his 'siblings' and his mother after becoming enraged, resulting in the visit of a strange masked man who told Will that his mother had lied about who his father was. Will then decided to leave his home and head back to meet with the other three horsemen, who he dubbed his real brothers.
The final horseman, Bitter Ridge, attempted suicide but failed. It was then that he came across a town plagued by sickness, and the townspeople believed him to be the bringer of Death, the Grim Reaper himself. Using his weapon he killed the townspeople and used their souls to fight for him, becoming some sort of crazed and overzealous nut who believed he was performing an act of God. He met with the other three horsemen and joined them once more.
When the Horsemen reunited a series of demons began appearing, attacking the town they were in with full force. The powers of the Horsemen combined proved to be too much for the demons to overcome, and the Horsemen were met by the General's wife, Missy Hume. She and the Horsemen were last seen plotting, planning to bring General Hume back to the land of the living.
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