Dullahan Physiology

"With a hip-hip and a clippity-clop,

He's out looking for a head to swap.

So don't try to figure out a plan,

You can't reason with a headless man!"

― Headless Horseman Song (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)

Power to use the abilities of a dullahan. Variation of Undead Fairy Physiology & Grim Reaper Physiology.

Also Called[]

Dullahan Mimicry
Headless Horseman/Horsewoman Mimicry/Physiology

Capabilities[]

User with this ability either is or can transform into a dullahan, a headless humanoid faerie, usually seen riding a black horse and carrying their head. The head's eyes are massive and constantly dart about like flies, while the mouth is constantly in a hideous grin that touches both sides of the head. The flesh of the head is said to have the color and consistency of moldy cheese.

The dullahan's whip is actually a human corpse's spine, and the wagons they sometimes use are made of similarly funereal objects (e.g. candles in skulls to light the way, the spokes of the wheels made from thigh bones, the wagon's covering made from a worm-chewn pall). When a dullahan stops riding, it is where a person is due to die: the dullahan calls out their name, at which point they immediately perish.

There is no way to bar the road against a dullahan — all locks and gates open on their own when it approaches. Also, they do not appreciate being watched while on their errands, throwing a basin of blood on those who dare to do so (often a mark that they are among the next to die), or even lashing out the watchers' eyes with their whips. Nonetheless, they are frightened of gold, and even a single gold pin can drive a dullahan away.

Applications[]

Variations[]

Associations[]

Limitations[]

Frightened by gold, even a single gold pin can drive a dullahan away.
The lack of a head may leave the user without their senses of sight, taste and smell.