Dullahan is an enemy in the Castlevania series. He is a cursed headless man eternally in search for his lost head. It appears sometimes as a skeleton and other times as a ghostly armored knight. He is based on the Dullahan/Gan Ceann of Irish myth, a headless horse rider who served as the inspiration for the Headless Horseman as well.
Dullahan first appeared as a rapier-wielding headless skeleton in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (called the Headless Hunter). This form was used again in Super Castlevania IV, where his skull (or an unsuitable one), is carried in one arm. In Symphony of the Night (translated as Dhuron), he gained the ability to, after a significant amount of time, raise his sword in the air and have it charged by electricity, making him more dangerous.
Concept art for a skeletal Dullahan boss was provided on the website for Castlevania: Order of Shadows, although the boss did not make it into the final version of the game.
There are a few differences between all four of these Dullahans, however. Dullahan in Lament of Innocence had a normal silver sword and his shield was decorated with a face. In Curse of Darkness, Dullahan's sword and shield are glowing and purple, and as stated before, he wears furs and a red coat and is much more agile. The Arcade version of Dullahan looks much like in Lament of Innocence but lacks a shield. Pachislot II's Dullahan looks like the Dullahan from Curse of Darkness, but with no shield, a different sword and a horse.
This enemy first appeared as a boss in Rondo of Blood, where it is shown as a ghostly knight wearing heavy armor with no helmet and armed with a giant lance. Its zombie-like head floated about the room. This style boss returned in Dracula X and Portrait of Ruin.
Dhuron is encountered as a lesser enemy in the Long Library. It is a purple skeleton wielding a rapier in one hand and his own head in the other. He only uses his sword to attack, although he can also cast a lightning bolt on his sword to boost its attack strength and strike faster at Alucard (his sword will be shining and its power doubled from 15 ATT to 30 ATT in the powered-up state).
In Circle of the Moon, Dullahan rides half of an undead horse that is missing its hind quarters. He holds his sword above his head while charging back and forth. His design, including garments and a cape, is reminiscent of the Headless Horseman.
Dullahan is fought in a large square room in the Infinite Corridor, the walls of which are covered in alcoves containing heads in glass boxes.
The enemy himself a large suit of armor, with a fur-lined neck and red coat. He wields a glowing purple sword and a glowing purple shield. Both armaments are covered in ghostly purple human faces and the sword emits a trail of what seems to be souls.
He will attack using sword slash combos and shield rushes. He will occasionally leap into the air and slam his sword into the ground, emitting several shockwaves. It can be stolen from when he is in the air and just after he hits the ground.
He also has two charged up attacks:
He will hold his sword outwards above his head with both hands, where it will emit a blue glow from the tip and slam it into the ground, surrounding himself in a damaging blue aura.
He will charge his sword pointing straight above his head, where several blue rings with appear around the sword, and swing it down, firing a laser out of the tip. Dullahan will spin around to cover the whole room with the laser.
Dullahan is the first boss in the game; he is a gigantic, headless knight who has his head floating around him. If the head attaches to his body, it will unleash a series of heavy damaging dark energy rays, each aimed to the player's current position and with slight homing capabilities. After he vomits about five of these, the head will detach and float about again. Damage can only be done to his body, whilst attacking his head will have no effect.
The headless Dullahan appears mounted on a horse and armed with a sword in Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II. In order to be defeated, he must first be knocked off of his horse and then slain.
Dullahan looks like he did in Portrait of Ruin. He is not a boss, but an advanced enemy. Instead of his body being vulnerable and head invincible, it is the opposite; his head being the only weak spot and his armor invulnerable.
Find: Aiolon Ruins, Dracula's Castle Drop: All bosses, excepted Isaac's second fight, Death and Dracula. Conditions: Item disappears if the player does not pick it up before leaving the Boss Room.
The Dullahan-type enemies from some Castlevania titles bear an uncanny resemblance to the "Headless Horror", an enemy from the 1988 mythological-themed, side-scrolling fighting game Altered Beast. In Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, a similar enemy was introduced, known at the time as the "Headless Hunter". The similarities go as far as portraying him holding his skull in one hand and attacking with the other (although in the Castlevania games he was given a rapier). His clothing, however, is almost identical, consisting of an old and ripped purple robe.
In Celtic mythology, the Dullahan was a type of unseelie (dark) fairy. True to the myth, Dullahans in Castlevania also carry their heads in their hands.
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