TV-Series
Description
Dilandau Albatou is the young commander of the Dragon Slayers, an elite military unit of Guymelef pilots serving the Zaibach Empire. He is originally from the kingdom of Asturia, where he was born as Celena Schezar, the younger sister of the famed swordsman Allen Schezar. At the age of five, Celena was kidnapped by the Zaibach Empire and subjected to a series of cruel fate-altering experiments that transformed her into a boy and created the alternate persona of Dilandau. During this time, he was placed under the care of a beastman named Jajuka, who became his sole emotional anchor. Dilandau was given command of the Dragon Slayers at the age of fourteen after proving his ruthlessness by killing an enemy general. He first appears in the story when his unit is tasked with capturing the legendary Guymelef known as Escaflowne.
In appearance, Dilandau is approximately fifteen years old, with a slender and androgynous build, standing about 175 centimeters tall and weighing around 61 kilograms. He has pale skin, silver-white hair, and garnet-colored eyes. He is known for his wide range of unsettling facial expressions, most notably a sadistic smirk. Early in the series, he receives a scar on his right cheek during a sword fight with Van Fanel, the young king of Fanelia, which becomes an obsession for him as it mars what he considers his beautiful face.
Dilandau possesses a personality marked by extreme impulsivity, capriciousness, and moodiness. He is intelligent and absolutely ruthless, making him a formidable warrior, but his lack of self-control often sabotages his own objectives. He is sadistic, violent, arrogant, and deeply narcissistic, with a pathological love for battle, destruction, and fire that suggests pyromania. He almost completely lacks compassion or conscience, frequently abusing his own subordinates and defying his superiors. Despite his harsh treatment of them, he is revealed to be emotionally dependent on his Dragon Slayers, and their deaths trigger a severe psychological breakdown. For their part, the Dragon Slayers remain fanatically loyal to him even unto death.
Dilandau functions as a persistent antagonist and nemesis to both Van Fanel and Allen Schezar. He is nominally affiliated with the Zaibach Empire but owes true allegiance primarily to himself, showing insubordination to most superiors while maintaining a notable respect only for Emperor Dornkirk. His primary mission involves capturing Escaflowne, but his personal grudge against Van becomes his driving obsession after being scarred. He also harbors a deep loathing for Allen Schezar, which may be a subconscious reaction to his suppressed knowledge that Allen is his brother.
The character undergoes significant psychological deterioration throughout the story. His instability grows progressively worse, particularly after Van kills most of his Dragon Slayers, leaving him alone and sending him into an apathetic, catatonic state from which he only emerges on the battlefield. As the fate alteration experiments begin to break down, he alternates between his Dilandau and Celena personas, reflecting a dichotomous split personality. In his Celena form, he appears locked in a naive, childlike state with little memory of his identity. During the final battle, Jajuka sacrifices himself to protect Dilandau, and with his dying breath tells Dilandau that it is acceptable to return to being Celena. This triggers Dilandau to permanently revert to his original form as Celena, who is then reunited with her brother Allen.
As a warrior, Dilandau is an exceptionally skilled swordsman and Guymelef pilot. He pilots a distinctive red Guymelef, initially an Alseides model equipped with flight capability, a stealth cloak, a flame-thrower, and a liquid-metal weapon called a Crima Claw. Later in the series, he upgrades to an Oreades model. Despite his considerable abilities, his impulsive nature and growing mental instability often undermine his effectiveness in combat.
In the animated film version of the story, Dilandau is portrayed differently, as a half-human, half-Draconian hybrid with psychic abilities similar to those of Van and Folken. Folken finds him living with feral dogs, and though he is given the ancient Alseides armor, it is quickly destroyed by Escaflowne. This version of the character handles defeat with less emotional collapse than his series counterpart, and at the end of the film he departs with his surviving Dragon Slayers to seek new battles elsewhere.
In appearance, Dilandau is approximately fifteen years old, with a slender and androgynous build, standing about 175 centimeters tall and weighing around 61 kilograms. He has pale skin, silver-white hair, and garnet-colored eyes. He is known for his wide range of unsettling facial expressions, most notably a sadistic smirk. Early in the series, he receives a scar on his right cheek during a sword fight with Van Fanel, the young king of Fanelia, which becomes an obsession for him as it mars what he considers his beautiful face.
Dilandau possesses a personality marked by extreme impulsivity, capriciousness, and moodiness. He is intelligent and absolutely ruthless, making him a formidable warrior, but his lack of self-control often sabotages his own objectives. He is sadistic, violent, arrogant, and deeply narcissistic, with a pathological love for battle, destruction, and fire that suggests pyromania. He almost completely lacks compassion or conscience, frequently abusing his own subordinates and defying his superiors. Despite his harsh treatment of them, he is revealed to be emotionally dependent on his Dragon Slayers, and their deaths trigger a severe psychological breakdown. For their part, the Dragon Slayers remain fanatically loyal to him even unto death.
Dilandau functions as a persistent antagonist and nemesis to both Van Fanel and Allen Schezar. He is nominally affiliated with the Zaibach Empire but owes true allegiance primarily to himself, showing insubordination to most superiors while maintaining a notable respect only for Emperor Dornkirk. His primary mission involves capturing Escaflowne, but his personal grudge against Van becomes his driving obsession after being scarred. He also harbors a deep loathing for Allen Schezar, which may be a subconscious reaction to his suppressed knowledge that Allen is his brother.
The character undergoes significant psychological deterioration throughout the story. His instability grows progressively worse, particularly after Van kills most of his Dragon Slayers, leaving him alone and sending him into an apathetic, catatonic state from which he only emerges on the battlefield. As the fate alteration experiments begin to break down, he alternates between his Dilandau and Celena personas, reflecting a dichotomous split personality. In his Celena form, he appears locked in a naive, childlike state with little memory of his identity. During the final battle, Jajuka sacrifices himself to protect Dilandau, and with his dying breath tells Dilandau that it is acceptable to return to being Celena. This triggers Dilandau to permanently revert to his original form as Celena, who is then reunited with her brother Allen.
As a warrior, Dilandau is an exceptionally skilled swordsman and Guymelef pilot. He pilots a distinctive red Guymelef, initially an Alseides model equipped with flight capability, a stealth cloak, a flame-thrower, and a liquid-metal weapon called a Crima Claw. Later in the series, he upgrades to an Oreades model. Despite his considerable abilities, his impulsive nature and growing mental instability often undermine his effectiveness in combat.
In the animated film version of the story, Dilandau is portrayed differently, as a half-human, half-Draconian hybrid with psychic abilities similar to those of Van and Folken. Folken finds him living with feral dogs, and though he is given the ancient Alseides armor, it is quickly destroyed by Escaflowne. This version of the character handles defeat with less emotional collapse than his series counterpart, and at the end of the film he departs with his surviving Dragon Slayers to seek new battles elsewhere.