The Dullahan (デュラハン, Dyurahan) is a humanoid liminal race most commonly known for their removable head.
Metabolically similar to humans, a Dullahan is closely associated with supernatural myths; most notably with those associated with death and the afterlife.
Culture[]
Famed as "Heralds of Death", it is a Dullahan's job to escort the souls of the dead from the mortal realm into the afterlife. However, it has yet to be publicly confirmed whether or not this is actually true or simple mythological theory. Privately, however, both Lala and a Dullahan associated with The Eight Brothers have exhibited knowledge and supernatural abilities to interact with/ward off death and travel through the realms of the afterlife.
As Lala explains in Chapter 38 during her conversation with Kimihito, Dullahans view death as something completely natural, and for this reason, it is considered taboo among them to intervene in the fate of a living person, although it is unclear whether this is simply a self-imposed taboo in the Dullahan's culture or a general rule among Liminals of the afterlife. Furthermore, for most Dullahans, it is basically the same whether a person is alive or dead, likely because they can freely wander between worlds as psychopomps and therefore they can interact with the souls of the deceased in the afterlife just as they do with people in the world of the living. Due to this, it does not seem to be common among Dullahans to mourn a deceased person, as Lala felt very uncertain and confused about her feelings of sadness regarding Yuuhi's impending very young death, which led her to break the Dullahan taboo to intervene in Yuuhi's fate and save the little girl with a zombification.
Physiological Attributes[]
- Dullahans are one of the more humanoid of liminal species, possessing the same basic anatomy as a human baring the removable skull. However, they possess some traits that give them an otherworldly appearance such as black sclera, pale hair, blue skin.
- How a dullahan's head receives proper blood flow despite being detachable is currently a medical enigma. According to one theory, there's an additional heart inside their head that pumps blood, similar to fleas. In addition, it is medically unknown how the body can act of its own accord (often with a completely different personality) when detached from the head.
- As their head attaches and detaches at the neck, the connection between their head and neck is fundamentally weak, as such, their heads are frequently at risk of falling off. However, when a Dullahan's head is removed, they can still feel what is happening to the body itself (or as seen in Chapter 52, the body can also feel pain that the head suffers).
- Teleportation: Dullahans are able to switch between the worlds and appear wherever they want. However, this ability seems to be limited, since Lala says in chapter 23 that she can't use her powers, when her head is separated from her body. As seen in Chapter 38, when teleported, a Dullahan initially appears as a shimmering mirage at the location where he teleported before fully materializing.
- Soul Reaping: While there is no scientific evidence that Dullahans are "Harbringer of Death", they can actually bring the souls of the deceased from the realm of mortals to the afterlife. For this purpose, they use their scythes to separate the connection between the Ghosts and the objects that they still anchor them with the world of the living through an exorcism. Because of this, many Ghosts fear them very much.
- If a Grim Reaper is hit by a scythe of a Dullahan, he fade away into smoke, although it is not known what will happen to the Reaper afterwards, or whether it may even be "killed" by this.
Members[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- One of The Eight Brothers is dating a Dullahan girl. She likes to watch the third episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which is infamous for having a decapitation scene.
- Dullahans (also called Gan Ceann) are taken from Irish mythology. They are a type of Unseelie Fae, which are mischievous or outright malevolent spirits and furthermore, dullahan is another word for hobgoblin. They carry their head under their arm which is said to grin constantly. They typically ride carriages which are decorated with funereal objects such as bone-crafted wheels and covered in dried human skin or they rode on black horses. They are said to appear to those about to die in which they will say the person's name, causing the victim to drop dead instantly. It is also impossible to run from a dullahan as all doors and locks will open for them, though even a single piece of gold is said to repel them.
- In Irish folklore, Dullahans appear near the houses of people about to die and throw a basin of blood on them when they open the door. In The Eight Brothers, this detail is briefly shown and discussed in the Monster Musume franchise, but despite this it is not known and rather doubtful whether this is also a canonical part of the culture of the Dullahans in the Monster Musume manga series, as Lala has never mentioned or hinted at this detail.
- While there are scientific explanations for the special abilities of many Liminals in Monster Musume, there is no explanation for the Dullahans how their head detachment works (though its been speculated the head and body are separate, symbiotic organisms), and in fact they have abilities that have been explicitly confirmed as supernatural.
- It can be assumed that the supernatural nature of the Dullahans is the reason why science in Monster Musume has not been able to provide evidence of their abilities as "Heralds of Deaths", since the concepts of supernaturalness or magical are not bound by the laws of logic and therefore cannot really be understood or explained by scientific methods.
- The concept of a female Dullahan like Lala is actually very rare because in the most legends, Dullahans are male. Female Dullahans have been documented, however, such the story "The Good Woman" which describes a cloaked woman who was revealed to be a Dullahan by a peasant named Larry Dodd who also encounters other female dullahans at a church ruin.
- As stated in the Dullahan profile from MonMusu in Episode 11, despite their detachable head, Dullahans are not undead like Zombies, but rather living beings. It is also stated that they are an extremely rare Liminal species and also one of the most mysterious.
- The fact that Dullahans are very rare is also shown in the manga series, because apart from Lala, no other Dullahan has appeared in the series to this day, not even as a cameo as a background character and only a few people seems to be familiar with Dullahan in any way.
- Although Dullahans are referred to as "Heralds of Death", the fact that Dullahans are living beings indicates that they themselves are also subject to the concept of death and can die of natural causes.
- Prior to Lala's debut in the manga series, Okayado drew his Dullahan characters with human eyes and skin tones. Lala's inhuman skin color and eye design were later established to further set her apart from the other characters.
- In The Eight Brothers, the Dullahan girl claims to the seventh brother that it would be hard for a Dullahan to breathe if her head is tied up to her neck with things like tape, which confuses the seventh brother given the fact that a Dullahan can breathe without problems even if his head is not connected to his body at all. However, whether this trait is also considered canonical for Dullahans in the Monster Musume manga series has not yet been confirmed. In Chapter 23, Lala did hide fearfully behind Kimihito's back when Rachnera suggested to tied up the Dullahan's head to her neck with spider silk, but in the context of the chapter, it is rather implied that Lala's reaction was more due to her fear of Rachnera after the Arachne had previously use Lala's headless body for 'bondage excercises'.