Dead Cells / Characters

This is a list of characters from Dead Cells.

As each character has more than meets the eye: Beware of unmarked spoilers!

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The Beheaded

The Beheaded/The Fallen One

The protagonist and playable character of the game. The Beheaded is a sentient, mobile clump of cells capable of possessing bodies. His main goal is to discover the secrets of the island and kill the King in hopes of ending the continuous cycle.

All There in the Manual: A minor example. His species is never specified in the game, but The Heart of Dead Cells book refers to him as a homunculus.
Amnesiac Hero: He doesn't seem to recall and even detests his past as the King, being disgusted by the latter's heinous acts. Even after regaining his original body, the Beheaded never truly remembers his former self.
And Then John Was a Zombie: One of the most unusual examples. He's the King, the very person he'd been trying to kill from the start.
Blob Monster: Basically, a sapient, parasitic slime mold puppeteering a dead body.
Body Surf: His core can possess other bodies besides the prisoner at the start of the game. This is key to unlocking the Unholy Shores, as well as the true ending. It's uncertain whether the bodies have to be dead or not, as he can't possess any of the living (or undead) enemies. He is capable of possessing the body of the King, who is alive albeit in a vegetative state, but that might be a special case since that's his original body.
Butt-Monkey: The trailers treat him as kind of a chump. While he is shown to get progressively more badass with each trailer, he inevitably dies at the end in a pathetic way, culminating in him accidentally impaling himself on a rock while attempting to kill a mushroom child.
Complete Immortality: While his bodies can (and will) die, the mass of cells that make up his consciousness can't. He can't even take damage in this form. His core is immune to damage from spikes and traps, and if it falls in lava, it simply teleports back to his body with no damage.
Deadpan Snarker: A lot of his commentary is him making snide remarks about the lore, especially where the populace dying is concerned.
Death Seeker: In a way. He wants off the island and out of the "Groundhog Day" Loop, and if that means dying permanently, then so be it. Unfortunately for him, not even the panacea can kill him, though at that point, he doesn't seem to mind.
Dem Bones: Wearing one of the Giant's outfits makes him a skeleton.
Everything's Better with Samurai: Wearing one of Mama Tick's outfits turns the Beheaded into a female samurai, complete with a huge katana.
Faceless Eye: Frequently depicted as this in animated trailers and certain more light-hearted post-launch artwork with a cartoonishly expressive eyeball at the center of the flame-like mass where his head should be. It's more ambiguous in-game and in more somber artwork in which he instead has more of an odd glowing yellow core that possibly functions as an eyeball.
Flaming Hair
Flaming Skulls: When the clump of cells fully takes over a body, they disappear, and the Beheaded has a flaming...thing...where the body's head should be.
Gender Bender: Physically, in any case. Wearing one of the Time Keeper's, Mama Tick's, Servants', and Queen's outfits results in a noticeably more feminine-looking body for the Beheaded.
"Groundhog Day" Loop: He's being forced to live through one again and again.
Heroic Mime: Played with. He never speaks when interacting with others, emoting through gestures. However, when examining objects and background elements, his thoughts are visible to the player. This implies and is eventually confirmed by the Collector that he can't actually speak. Probably because he has no mouth. It's averted when the Beheaded reclaims his body, as there's not only dialogue, but a sound effect implying that he's talking.
I Hate Past Me: Though he doesn't realize he's the same person at first, he detests what the King has done.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The Beheaded isn't really a nice person. He's absurdly violent and seems indifferent to the suffering of others, only acting according to his desires. Despite this, he doesn't approve of the King's actions (executing his soldiers and imprisoning innocents under the suspicion that they were infected) and does want to end the Malaise for good.
Lack of Empathy:
- Despite the Tutorial Knight helping him out, he doesn't seem moved by her sudden death and just loots her freshly murdered corpse.
- Lampshaded by the Collector prior to his boss fight. Notably, he doesn't even care that he's doomed the island by killing the only person who could create the cure to the Malaise.
No Name Given: The Beheaded isn't referred to by his real name; not even after being revealed to be the King.
One-Man Army: The Beheaded can cut down scores of monsters by himself.
The Reveal: The Beheaded is actually the King's mind, though we never get to find out why exactly he has come to such a state.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Given The Reveal above, he's unknowingly trying to right his wrongs by going on a quest to kill his past self, in the hopes of bringing an end to the island's madness.
Suddenly Voiced: When he gets his real body back, he's also able to speak.
Tron Lines: Some skins give him glowing lights, which change colors depending on if the player is using a weapon and which one.
Undead Barefooter: Outside of certain outfits and some weapons, he doesn't bother to put shoes on the corpses he possesses. His bare feet are hard to see in-game, so it's mostly visible in artwork and the final ending, where he stomps the Collector to death.
Victory Is Boring: During the final ending, he's gotten everything he wanted. He's ended the cycle of death and rebirth that plagued him for the entire game, his mind and body are joined together again, and the Panacea has made him immune to the Malaise. However, his kingdom is lost, very few (if any) are left alive and sane, and he admits that it was more fun running through the sewers.

Non-Playable Characters

The Collector

A mysterious alchemist who provides the Beheaded with new weaponry and mutations in exchange for cells.

Ambiguously Human: While it could just be a result of the Malaise infecting him, some parts of the Collector's design don't seem human. On top of his blue skin and glowing eyes, he also has digitgrade legs.
Came Back Wrong: Like the Tutorial Knight and the King, he's revived by the Time Crash, though in a heavily glitched state. He seems to come out of it after he drinks the Panacea and mutates.
Contractual Boss Immunity: Like the Hand of the King, he's highly resistant to all forms of crowd control, such as stunning, slowing, rooting, and freezing. He's also the only boss unaffected by the No Mercy mutation.
Cruel and Unusual Death: The Beheaded kills him by repeatedly curb stomping him until his head explodes.
Despair Event Horizon: Before drinking the Panacea and going insane, the Collector's monologue is rather heavy. He's exhausted every other option to cure the Malaise and sounds to have lost all hope. It doesn't help that he seems to have contracted the Malaise himself.
The Collector: Is this all I've got left? The false hope of a bunch of children's stories... Pathetic.
Intrepid Merchant: Of sorts. He appears in every rest area to trade cells.
Marathon Boss: Easily the longest boss fight in the game. He has multiple phases and further extends the fight by healing himself with the Panacea. It's only when you knock the Panacea out of his hands and drink it yourself that you can finally put him down.
This Is Gonna Suck: After losing and just before The Beheaded finishes him, he can only mutter "Oh, we're in deep now."
True Final Boss: Becomes this with five boss cells active.
Walking Spoiler: There is far more to him than meets the eye.
What the Hell, Hero?: After you defeat him, he points out that by killing him, you've doomed the island since you just killed the only person who can create the cure to the Malaise. Though given what the Panacea did to him, that might be for the best.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: After he drinks the Panacea, he goes completely insane. Funnily enough, he outright predicted this would happen to him.

The King

The ruler of the island on which the game takes place. He is the primary antagonist of the game.

0% Approval Rating: The townspeople hated this man. Throughout the game you can find vandalized statues of him. Even his own soldiers didn't think too highly of him and his methods.
Big Bad: He's built up to be this at first. The truth is far more complicated, however - being also the Beheaded, he qualifies as the game's Villain Protagonist on the way to redemption.
The Caligula: He isolated, imprisoned, and executed anyone even suspected of being infected with the Malaise, and ordered the death of any of his soldiers who refused to comply. If he acted anything like the Beheaded does, it may explain a few things.
Empty Shell: When you finally confront him, he's in a vegetative state and can't even move or act. The reason for this is because he's without his mind, which currently inhabits the very character you're controlling!
Fallen Hero: According to the Giant, he was a far more honorable and reasonable man before the Malaise came.
Killed Off for Real: Unlike the game's bosses, his death sticks. At least until the Time Keeper causes the Time Crash, restoring the body back (although somewhat bugged).
No Name Given: His real name is never said. Everyone just calls him the King.
Orcus on His Throne: Justified. He's in a vegetative state.
Sigil Spam: His crest, three vertical claw marks, are seen everywhere around the island on banners and whatnot. He wears a crown that has three ridges that resembles this crest, concealing his face.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: While he did a lot of truly horrible things, he did so with the intention of containing and eradicating the Malaise.
Zero-Effort Boss: For all the build up to him, he's dispatched very easily in a cutscene. His bodyguard, however, more than makes up for it.

Tutorial Knight

A female knight who serves as the Beheaded's first encounter at the very start of the game. She gives the Beheaded cryptic advice.

Action Girl: We don't get to see her in action, but she's a female knight wielding a BFS.
Back from the Dead: As of the "Practice Makes Perfect" update, she's in charge of the Training Room, despite being a rotting skeleton. She herself lampshades this.
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Horrifically averted. After somehow being killed, the Female Knight's body decomposes to the point where she's a rotting skeleton.
BFS: She has a rather hefty one strapped across her back. Fittingly, you get the Broad Sword blueprint from her corpse.
Came Back Wrong: After the Time Crash, she's alive again, but her body glitches considerably, and she repeats her opening speech ad nauseum.
Captain Ersatz: She's explicitly based on Lara Croft, specifically the modern incarnation.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Out-of-universe example. The Tutorial Knight isn't really referred to by a specific name or title, so players simply call her "Tutorial Knight".
Gender Flip: Was a male in the early access version of the game.
Killed Off for Real: Unlike most of the characters in the game, her death sticks. At least until the Time Keeper causes the Time Crash, detailed below.
Killed Offscreen: We don't see how the Tutorial Knight dies. Just from looking at her body, however, it seems that she, among other things, lost part of her arm and was run through.
We Hardly Knew Ye: She's killed off abruptly after only a few runs through the game. Her corpse remains at the entrance to the Promenade of the Condemned for each run afterwards.

The Alchemist

A scientist who was working for the King in searching a cure for the Malaise. His notes can be found in nearly every biome, telling of his attempts and/or his thoughts on the area.

Apocalyptic Log: Throughout the game, you can find grimoires documenting his attempts to cure the Malaise.
For Science!: Had shades of these, especially in the Cavern, where he laments that the King merely used the crystals to sell for money, when they could be applied to much more.
The Ghost: While his notes can be found in every biomes, he's nowhere to be seen. Just before his boss fight, the Collector says a few cryptic words, which implies either that the Alchemist is dead and the Collector took over his notes, or that the Collector is the Alchemist.
The Friend Nobody Likes: According to one of the Guardian's Haven loading screen lines, nobody liked him. The King may have been the only exception, as one note in the Dilapidated Arboretum calls him "the King's new best friend".
The Reveal: While it's quite ambiguous and never said outright, the Collector's speech before his boss fight implies that he and the Alchemist are one and the same. Notably, when he refers to himself as an alchemist, the word is capitalized, implying a much deeper meaning.

The Fisherman

A tentacled...thing wearing a yellow rain slicker and a striped shirt. He offers the Beheaded a way to leave the island in the Queen and the Sea DLC.

Big Eater: When you meet him in the Toxic Sewers, you find him gorging himself on fishbones.
The Bus Came Back: He was last seen in Update 3, back when the game was in Early Access, four and a half years ago. The only sign of him in the full release until now was a portrait that sometimes appears in High Peak Castle.
Easily Forgiven: If you actually managed to get killed by him all the way back in the game's Early Access days, he recognizes you and apologizes for all the impaling, saying he was just doing his job. The Beheaded has no hard feelings.
Eldritch Abomination: One wearing funny clothes, no less. Oddly enough, he's quite friendly.
Heel–Face Turn: In Early Access, his role was to send the Beheaded back to the start after he'd cleared all the content available by killing him. Now he's your ally in getting off the island.
Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Even he's afraid of whatever horrors wait in the shipwreck he takes you to.
What Happened to the Mouse?: After he takes you to the Infested Shipwreck, he doesn't appear again for that run. It's not known if he managed to get off the island after you light the beacon or if something else happened to him.

Bosses

The Concierge

The boss found on the Black Bridge.

Barrier Warrior: During his fight, he'll use two kinds of barriers, the first one (who only last a second or so) making him invulnerable and knocking the Beheaded back, the second one, red, inflicting damage to the Beheaded when he touches it.
Dual Boss: He's the only boss that doesn't have any new tricks when his stronger form is fought in the Boss Rush. Instead, you fight two of them.
Pointy-Haired Boss: Whatever else Castaing was, it's heavily implied he was corrupt. He disobeyed the king's orders, hoarded gold in his offices, and even had a sunbathing lounge on the rooftop of his office in the Ramparts, implying a very lazy and rich lifestyle.
Was Once a Man: Some notes found in lore rooms in the Ramparts imply that he was the captain of the prison guards, Castaing, but was infected by the Malaise, which caused his arms to become swollen (much like the boss himself). One of the loading screens quotes pretty much says it: "They say the prison warden was personally involved in guarding the bridge. So they say..."

Conjonctivius

The boss fought in the Insufferable Crypt. It looks like a giant eyeball monster attached to the walls with chains.

Bullet Hell: In her final phase, one of her attacks is this, where she'll make all platforms disappear, fly to the ceiling, and shoot bullets all over the place.
Combat Tentacles: In between phases, she'll become invulnerable, makes all platforms disappear, and spawn tentacles on the ground that will attack the beheaded, each tentacle destroyed makes the ones left faster. Killing all tentacles sees her progress to her next phase.
Eldritch Abomination: One of the most bizarre enemies in the entire game. And considering the types of enemies you can find, that's saying something.
Female Monster Surprise: The game's lore and developers consistently refer to Conjunctivius as a she.
Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: The most we find about her are the cocoons of her molts in the Toxic and Ancient Sewers. Where she's from and how she came to be are not known.
Meaningful Name: Her name is a reference to the medical term for pink eye.
Outside-Context Problem: Compared to the other bosses, she's not linked to the King or the Kingdom that much... apart from the fact that the king ordered her imprisonment. She's likely a result of the Malaise, still.
Spell My Name With An S: More recent updates have spelled her name as Conjonctivius, though Conjunctivius is still used for her outfits.

Mama Tick

The boss fought in the Nest. A monstrous tick worshiped as a god by the Banished.

Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: She's even bigger than Conjonctivius!
Eldritch Abomination: Not quite to the level of Conjonctivius, but one wonders exactly what sort of horror birthed this thing.
Eyes Do Not Belong There: She's basically a gigantic sphere with legs and claws covered in eyes.
Logical Weakness: She's very vulnerable to electric attacks due to being fought in water.
King Mook: A much larger version of the giant ticks you fought earlier in the Morass of the Banished.
Outside-Context Problem: Like Conjonctivius, she has little to do with the main story. Unlike Conjonctivius, she does make a bit of sense in the context of the area you find her in, as that part of the island was reserved for outcasts who began to worship her as a god.
Skippable Boss: You can actually avoid fighting her entirely by sacrificing a Mushroom Boi at the altar at the end of the Morass of the Banished. You get an achievement and an outfit for doing so, but you will permanently lose the Mushroom Boi. You also don't get to enter the bonus room for a no-hit victory.

Death

The boss fought in the Defiled Necropolis. Dracula's close friend and second-in-command.

The Dragon: Of Dracula, of course. If you take the normal route to Dracula's Castle, he'll ensure you never set foot in the Master's Keep.
Not so Fast, Bucko!: If you take the normal route to Dracula's Castle, he drags you to the Defiled Necropolis just as you are about to enter the Master's Keep, denying you a chance to fight Dracula for that run.
One-Hit Kill: If he hits you directly with his scythe, he gets an orb that rotates around him. This does no damage, but if he gets six of them, he binds you with chains and delivers a one-hit kill. You can survive it with Disengagement or Ygdar Orus Li Ox, however.
Sinister Scythe: He has a wicked-looking dual scythe unique to this game. You can get it for yourself if you beat him.
Wake-Up Call Boss: He's a tier one boss, on the same level as the Concierge and Conjonctivius. However, he's much more challenging than any other boss on that tier.

The Time Keeper

The boss fought in the Clock Room. The Time Keeper is a Time Master in the service of the King. She requests that the King build the Clock Tower and attempt to stave off the effects of the Malaise by trapping the entire island in a "Groundhog Day" Loop.

Action Girl: More than capable of kicking the Beheaded's ass.
Dual Wielding: She appears to carry two blades of varying lengths and uses them quite well.
"Groundhog Day" Loop: She enforces this. A letter you can find in a room in the Clock Tower reveals she's been repeating the same day repeatedly. It is also implied that her task makes her increasingly exhausted as the number of executions decreases each day.
Healing Factor: The enhanced Time Keeper in the Boss Rush heals to full once she enters her final phase.
Hooks and Crooks: Uses a hook in one of her attacks to bring the Beheaded to her and deal a powerful sword strike.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Beheaded would never have been reunited with his original body if the Time Keeper hadn't caused the Time Crash mentioned below.
Storm of Blades: Makes giant swords fall from the ceiling during her boss battle.
Time Crash: After the Beheaded kills the Collector, she resets time again to undo what he's done. However, something goes very wrong this time. Parts of the island become glitched, and the Tutorial Knight, the Collector, and the King are alive again, though heavily glitched.
Time Master: Skilled enough with time manipulation to trap the entire island in a "Groundhog Day" Loop in an effort to contain the Malaise.
Villain: Exit, Stage Left: As of the Pimp My Run update, she can never be killed. If you defeat her, she teleports out instead. Justified, as she's required for the "Groundhog Day" Loop.
What the Hell, Hero?: If you kill the Collector, at the start of your next run, she teleports you directly to the Clock Room to berate you for killing the only person who could create the cure for the Malaise.

The Scarecrow

The boss fought in the Mausoleum. A strange gardener dressed like a scarecrow inhabiting a dilapidated tomb on the shores of the island.

Berserk Button: Stepping on his roses is this. Pity the first thing you do upon seeing him is landing on a bed of roses from the roof of the mausoleum.
Came Back Wrong: As well as strong, after dying in the Arboreum, he was brought back by the magical plants of the area, that slowly mutated him into what he is now.
Flunky Boss: He summons Jerkshrooms during the fight. The enchanced version in the Boss Rush summons Yeeters instead.
Green Thumb: He plants mushrooms throughout the fight that grow into either Jerkshrooms or large exploding mushrooms.
Shovel Strike: Among his weapons is a shovel. Makes sense, since he's a gardener.
Sinister Scythe: He wields a pair of these. Defeating him gives you a blueprint to use them for yourself.
Stuff Blowing Up: He plants exploding mushrooms. He also doesn't wait for you to go near them, uprooting and launching them in your direction.
Turns Red: He gets faster and faster the more you damage him.
Was Once a Man: He died and came back to life through alchemy, and eventually became twisted into what he is now. There are some hints that suggest he may be the royal gardener, mentioned all the way back in the Bad Seed DLC.

The Giant

The boss fought in the Guardian's Haven. The Giant was once one of the King's knights. However, a fight broke out between them when the former tried to dissuade the latter over the procedures being taken to cure the Malaise. It resulted in the Giant being killed and his corpse being imprisoned. However, he came back to life as a giant skeleton and he's pissed.

Attack Its Weak Point: His only weak spot is his eyeball, which is only revealed after doing enough damage to his hands.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: They don't call him the Giant for nothing. His head and shoulders alone fill the screen.
Broken Pedestal: The King (aka the Beheaded) is this to him. The lore implies that the Giant was one of the King's most loyal servants as well as one of his closest friends. But then the Giant began disapproving of the King's methods to contain the Malaise. They had a fight which resulted in the Giant's death. When the Beheaded finds him, he is greeted with immense disdain. The Giant even calls him an "incorrigible ass" and flips him the bird while dying.
Bullet Hell: He has an attack that creates this. It's rare, however, and only appears if he's allowed to charge one of his hands three times before you knock it out.
Dem Bones: He's a gigantic skeleton. You might think he was reduced to this state after dying the first time, but a large painting that sometimes appears in High Peak Castle shows that he was always a skeleton, or at least he was during the time he served the King.

Flipping the Bird: His parting gesture after you defeat him. The Beheaded flips him off right back.
He Was Right There All Along: That gigantic skeleton you see at the start of each run? That's him!
Killed Mid-Sentence: When giving you the fifth boss cell, he suddenly explodes mid sentence rather than sinking into the lava as usual.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The powered-up Giant in the Boss Rush has four arms.
The Nose Knows: Recognizes the Beheaded by scent.
Secret-Keeper: He seems to be the only being in the entire game who knows who the Beheaded truly is. The Collector also knows, but he does not bring this up until you confront him in the King's body.
The Rival: He didn't like the Hand of the King, and the feeling was mutual, though they both hated the Alchemist more.
Wham Line: He drops a major bombshell after you defeat him. He refers to the Beheaded as "my king."
"You were a model for us all... What drove you to all this destruction? You've even managed to destroy your own body... My King... You... ARE AN INCORRIGIBLE ASS!"
Worthy Opponent: If you beat him with four boss cells active, he admits you defeated him fairly and acknowledges you as this and gives you the fifth boss cell.
Your Size May Vary: When you find his corpse at the start of the game, he's huge, but nowhere near as big as he is when you fight him. This may be a perspective matter, as he's further in the "background" at the beginning.

The Hand of the King

The boss fought in the Throne Room. He is the King's bodyguard. Little else is known about him.

Barrier Warrior: He puts a force field around the King just before you fight him. He can also block your attacks this way.
Battle Trophy: In the final ending, his helmet adorns the King's throne.
Berserk Button: Do not mock or attempt to harm the King. The only time he's ever shown to be angry is if you confront him in the King's body.
Contractual Boss Immunity: Crowd control effects, such as freezing, rooting, slowing, and stunning have much less effect on him than on other bosses. Wolf Traps still work as intended, but because of the huge range of his attacks, they aren't as useful as you'd think. The only other boss with this trait is the True Final Boss.
Final Boss: Unless you have five boss cells, he is this.
Flat Character: Unlike the other bosses, little is known about him other than the fact that he's the King's bodyguard.
Flunky Boss: He summons several enemies, including elites, to fight you during the battle.
Stuff Blowing Up: Can hurl grenades at you. He also summons banners that unleash huge explosions if they aren't destroyed quickly.
The Hermit: He's lived in the Throne Room for a very long time, presumably since the King fell into a vegetative state.
The Rival: He didn't like the Giant, and the feeling was mutual, though they both hated the Alchemist more.
The Stoic: Unlike the Time Keeper and the Giant, the Hand of the King does not speak all that much. The only time he speaks is if you confront him in the King's Body, at which point he turns Not So Stoic because he believes you to be an impostor that has stolen the King's body.
Undying Loyalty: Despite the horrific acts that his king has committed, he remains at his side even though he has been reduced to a vegetative state. Unfortunately, you can't use this to your advantage. If you confront him while in the King's Body, he's confused at first, but then (incorrectly) declares you an impostor and attacks.

The Servants

The bosses fought in the Lighthouse. A trio of warriors sent by the Queen to stop the Beheaded as he climbs the lighthouse. Their names are Calliope, Euterpe, and Kleio.

Amazon Brigade: They're the Queen's handmaidens, and they're more than capable of kicking your ass.
Dual Wielding: Calliope and Kleio both dual wield giant morning stars and bladed tonfas respectively.
Early-Bird Cameo: Given the nature of how they were killed, it seems likely that the dead apostates found in the lore room in the Undying Shores were killed by them. One is riddled with arrows, one is utterly crushed and flattened, and one is hanged from the ceiling with large lacerations across its chest. Another lore room in High Peak Castle shows a weapons rack with some of the weapons removed, the outlines matching the shapes of the Servants' weapons.
Epic Flail: Calliope's weapon of choice is a pair of huge ball and chains that she dual wields.
Escape Sequence: The whole fight with the Servants is this. You have to quickly climb the lighthouse as it burns down underneath you. All the while the Servants are taking potshots at you.
Fighter, Mage, Thief: Euterpe is an archer rather than a mage, but the three fit the trope well. Calliope is the Fighter, attacking you with a heavy and powerful weapon. Euterpe is the Mage, attacking from range. Kleio is the Thief, being very nimble with the bladed tonfas and dealing large damage with her combo attacks.
Great Bow: Euterpe uses a huge bow called the Gilded Yumi. It's worth noting that when the Beheaded uses it, he can barely pull the bow, yet Euterpe fires off arrows in rapid succession.
Theme Naming: They're named after three of the Greek muses.
You Will Not Evade Me: They won't stop in their pursuit of the Beheaded until you kill them.

The Queen

The boss fought in The Crown. The queen of the island. She extinguished the lighthouse's beacon and waits there to prevent anyone from trying to leave the island.

Ambiguously Human: She has the same flaming head that the Beheaded has, suggesting she's the same kind of alchemical experiment that he is. Unlike the Beheaded, however, she's capable of speech.
All for Nothing: Implied in the ending for beating her as it reveals that the outside world seems little better as the Beheaded is greeted with a ship full of undead.
Anti-Villain: She doesn't really do anything particularly evil. She only opposes to you to prevent the Malaise from leaving the island.
Artificial Brilliance: She adjusts her tactics based on how you fight. If you fight aggressively, she'll begin to parry your attacks. If you parry her attacks, she'll use a powerful short range blast wave that can't be parried. Use ranged attacks? She force catches your arrows in midair before hurling them back at you. Bring pets to the fight? She turns them against you.
Back from the Dead: If you die very early in the fight with her, there's a chance she'll do this to you, reviving you and telling you to fight for real. Overlaps with Hoist by Their Own Petard if you kill her afterwards.
Boss Banter: She's probably the most talkative boss in the game. She'll taunt you throughout the fight, and will angrily tell you to stop kicking her off the lighthouse.
Catch and Return: One of her moves is a sort-of black hole in her palm, stopping projectiles you fire at her for a few seconds before sending them back at you.
Cool Crown: She wears a silver circlet that levitates around her "head".
Early-Bird Cameo: In the background of the Mausoleum, you can see a large mural depicting what at first glance looks like a stylized version of the Beheaded. It turns out it's actually the Queen. Additionally, the lore room with the dead apostates in the Undying Shores has huge slashes cut out of the room in a fashion similar to the Queen's dimensional slashes that she uses in her boss fight. Additionally, the entrance of that room has a symbol that looks like the three star symbol on the Queen's face.
Final Boss: A new one for an alternate route created in the Queen and the Sea DLC.
Flaming Hair: She apparently is a homunculus like the Beheaded, having the same flaming head as him, but with three lights in the center instead of one.
Happily Married: It's implied she was this to the King, who is now the Beheaded. She makes it clear that she doesn't take pleasure in fighting him.
High Collar of Doom: Her outfit has two of them! Her outer coat has a larger one, while her inner dress has a smaller, close fitting one that goes up to what would be her ears, if she had any.
Lady of War: The gameplay trailer for the Queen and the Sea DLC shows she wields a rapier and using a fencing style to fight.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Though she's much taller than the Beheaded, she's also lithe and wiry. This does not prevent her from grabbing the Beheaded by the throat and tossing him like a piece of trash.
Nothing Personal: She holds no ill will towards the Beheaded. She only fights him to prevent him (and the Malaise) from leaving the island. She doesn't even hold a grudge against you if you approach her in the King's body, and seems genuinely saddened that circumstances force her to fight you.
Railing Kill: The Beheaded kills her by Sparta kicking her into the beacon, causing it to instantly light ablaze. It's actually possible to kick her off the lighthouse mid-fight, though she'll angrily return.
Religion of Evil: It's hinted that she may have been part of the pagan cult found in the Fractured Shrines. The temples full of treasure are stated to belong to the Queen, and one of the letters written by the man who would eventually become The Scarecrow refers to the pagans as "her people".
Royal Rapier: Her weapon, and one she makes a great use of. It's obtainable after you beat her once.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: She's the last obstacle between you and escape from the island. And she will not make it easy for you. It's implied she's remained at the lighthouse for a long time to prevent anyone from lighting the beacon.
This Is Gonna Suck: After you defeat her but before you finish her off, she can only mutter "I guess...the die is cast then...", knowing that she failed in preventing the Malaise from leaving the island.
Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: She's nearly twice as tall as her husband The King though it may just be a side effect of infection by the Malaise since she's hardly the only example among the various infected enemies and bosses.
Turns Red: If you parry her too much, crowd control her too much, kick her off the stage too many times, or go a long time without doing a lot of damage to her, she goes into an enraged state and gets a lot more aggressive.
Undying Loyalty: In stark contrast to most everyone else, she still seems to genuinely love her husband. Unlike the Giant, she doesn't recognize the Beheaded as the King, but if you come to her in the King's body, she laments that she has to fight you to prevent you from leaving the island. After defeating her, she curses the Malaise for bringing about the events the led to this moment.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: She extinguished the lighthouse's beacon and killed anyone who tried to light it, in order to contain the Malaise on the island by preventing anyone from leaving it.

Dracula

The boss fought in the Master's Keep. The very same Dracula from the Castlevania franchise, introduced in the aptly-named Return to Castlevania DLC.

Boss Banter: He tops even the Queen for being the chattiest boss in the game, reacting to most of your actions with derision.
Composite Character: He takes the form of his Castlevania: Symphony of the Night incarnation, and while he has his moves from that game, he also has attacks from other games in the series, most notably Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.
Contractual Boss Immunity: His second form is the only enemy in the entire game completely immune to all forms of crowd control such as freezing, rooting, and even slowdown. Even the Wolf Trap, which normally ignores this trait, doesn't affect him.
Developer's Foresight: If you fight Dracula using one of the Castlevania exclusive costumes, he'll deliver dialogue appropriate to that character. In the case of Richter and Alucard, the dialogue is ripped directly from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. He'll deliver more unique dialogue if you use the Vampire Killer during the first phase.
Free-Fall Fight: Phase 2 of the fight against him turns into one, in which Dracula makes good use of his transformation to fly all around and snipe you from afar, while the platforms you are fighting on plummet to the ground, with some that can be (temporarily) destroyed by his attacks.
Large Ham: This incarnation of Dracula may be the biggest ham of them all. Nearly all of his quotes, particularly the ones he gives out when he's harrassing you in the stage before the boss battle, are some sort of snarky comment.
Let's Get Dangerous!: One of his lines during his first phase when you have lowered his health enough is that he's "done playing around. Now die."
Interface Screw: While you are on your way to his throne room, Dracula can turn the screen upside-down, which can lead to a quick death if you are caught off-guard and in the middle of the fray.
One-Winged Angel: As per tradition, once you defeat him in his vampire form, Dracula will take a new one, bumping up the difficulty by quite a few notches.
Orcus on His Throne: Exceptionally averted to an extent. If you enter his castle after clearing the Clock Tower, instead of sipping his human juice while waiting for you, Dracula will appear sporadically in the biome to hinder you^note. He is, however, untargetable, and you won't be able to actually fight him until you reach his throne room.

Characters / Dead Cells

The Beheaded/The Fallen One

Non-Playable Characters

The Collector

The King

Tutorial Knight

Bosses

The Concierge

Conjonctivius

Mama Tick

Death

The Time Keeper

The Scarecrow

The Giant

The Hand of the King

The Servants

Dracula

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Index

Next

Characters / Dead Cells

Edit Locked

The Beheaded/The Fallen One

Non-Playable Characters

The Collector

The King

Tutorial Knight

Bosses

The Concierge

Conjonctivius

Mama Tick

Death

The Time Keeper

The Scarecrow

The Giant

The Hand of the King

The Servants

Dracula

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Index

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