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The Windmill Vandals are the main antagonists of the episode of the same name. They're a group of four horse-backed vandals who once plagued the land of Nowhere. Farmer Jiles Galette, who originally built and lived in the Farmhouse two-hundred-and-fifty years ago, constructed the windmill next to the farmhouse, inscribing each blade with magical rune symbols, which when spun by the windmill, kept the vandals at bay.
250 years ago prior to the TV show's events, Galette built a windmill at a time when everyone else depended on water wheels, which were built by the vandals. One day, the water dried up and that made Galette the only man with a working mill. The vandals hated him for it, so they went after him. Luckily, Galette was able to keep the vandals away from his home by carving four magical symbols on the back of the blades, one for each fin. It then started the legend that if the windmill stops turning, the vandals will return from the grave and get revenge on those who are in possession of it.
List of Vandals:
- Axe Vandal
- Double-Headed Axe Vandal
- Flail Vandal
- Sword Vandal
Undead Vandals
In their self-titled episode, when the windmill breaks down, the skeletal remains of these plunderers appear and try to destroy the farmhouse along with its occupants. Courage and Eustace make several attempts to repair the windmill, each one causing the vandals to dissipate into mist briefly. However, each of their attempts ultimately prove futile, as the windmill keeps breaking soon afterward each time. Finally, after several minutes of chaos trying to fend off the returning vandals, Courage, Muriel, and Eustace manage to rebuild the windmill together, banishing the vandals, so long as the windmill continues to operate.
The Vandals appear whenever the blades of the windmill stop turning, however, due to Jiles Galette's carvings, they immediately disappear the instant the blades become mobile again.
Trivia[]
- The Vandals appeared to be fond of decapitating their victims and claiming their heads, as seen when they attacked the Bagge family.
- The background music which plays when they are seen is the same music played during the Mattress Demon's appearances in "The Demon in the Mattress".
- The Vandals are based on an ancient Germanic tribe of people from Eastern Europe who were responsible for invading and sacking Ancient Rome.
- Windmill Vandals resemble the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
- In the picture when the Vandals were alive and attacking the farmhouse, it should be noted that the Vandals used different weapons from what they have now during their attack on the Bagge family.
- The windmill has been damaged or destroyed other times in the series but somehow, the vandals never showed up in those circumstances, most likely because their legend said that it had to stop turning first in order for the vandals to appear, so destroying it doesn't really count.