Dullahan
Dullahan (known also as "Dyruahan")
made its mark in Dracula X: Rondo of Blood before making a perfectly
emulated appearance in the SNES iteration Castlevania: Dracula X. Decapitated
in battle, it holds in its arm its head as a symbol of its rage. Though, the
head, in its undead state, retains a working brain and still functions as
the guiding force. Dullahan commands a lance, around which all of its attacks
are based. Such attacks include a long stab, a jumping sword plant, and crashing
the lance into the ground, which causes large spikes to rise up and erratically
wave forward. At any time, it will throw into the air its head, which will
become a stalking force as Dullahan's onslaught continues; any contact with
the head will inflict a temporary curse. Otherwise, the head can elicit a
scream that's loud enough to shake the foundation and cause debris fall from
the ceiling.
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Castlevania:
Curse of Darkness
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Dullahan's first storyline appearance,
however, is discovered to be in Curse of Darkness, which tells us of
a period where the headless wonder had not yet located its lost melon. It's
no less aimless for it. Dullahan will glide about and gracefully swing
its cursed sword in a short three-hit combo attack. When it leaps into the
air, it'll come crashing down and cause a series of crippling shockwaves--an
attack that requires that Hector double jump to avoid damage. Equally damaging
is its shield-ram, a long dash assisted by the pummeling force of its armor.
Finally, for a distance attack, Dullahan will point forward it sword and release
a curse-inducing beam; as the beam stretch far across the area, Dullahan will
spin and around two times, requiring of Hector two well-timed dodges. Dullahan's
strength cannot be denied, and his flowing attacks leave little time to counterattack.
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Castlevania:
Portrait of Ruin
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Dullahan's most modern storyline appearance
is as a fairly typical iteration of its Dracula X forms. Dullahan's
most frequent attack is its lance-stab, whose length is surprising (though
thwarted by crouching) and serves to keep heroes at bay. The beheaded knight
once had two types of jump attacks, but these have now been combined;
now his is a jump that crashes the lance into the ground and causes spikes
to rise up one after another another in succession--this at room's length.
The floating head, impervious to all forms of attack, will occasionally reattach
itself to Dullahan's spine, at which point there will be two occurrences:
The head will release five vile demons of heat-seeking propensity, and then
Dullahan will pull off and toss forward the head, which will release a scattered
storm of ghostly eyeballs.
Like Arcade's particular set
of heroes, the well-armored Dullahan can use his large sword to block attacks,
discouraging, if only slightly, a complete slugfest. At close range, Dullahan
will viciously swing his sword toward the camera, requiring a timely block.
With some warning, Dullahan will unleash a flurry of sword swings that can
combo for massive damage (though, he remains stationary during this attack).
His other attack is the patented jumping sword plant, which locks in the hero's
current position and calls for a quick evasion. When low on health, Dullahan
can teleport out of sight and surprise the hero with a quick sword dash.
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Castlevania:
Grimoire of Souls
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The now-gigantic armored menace lumbers
about the battlefield with its decapitated head flying about in close proximity.
This version of Dullahan (the "Headless Champion," as it's called)
has multiple attacks: He thrusts his lance horizontally or diagonally downward.
He grabs onto the head and attaches it to his collar, after which the head
spews two homing plasma shots in succession. He tosses his head forward about
half-a-screen's length, after which the head rotates rapidly and spews plasma
balls in a spreadshot. He executes a diagonal charge-attack and follows it
up with a ground-pounding lance-stab. After thrusting his lance, he executes
a long-ranging enflamed charge attack. And stabs his lance into the ground
three times in a row; each time he does this, tall flames wave outward in
either direction.
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