Characters from the manga Delicious in Dungeon.
open/close all folders
Races
Human Races
Tallmen
Notable Tallmen: Laios, Falin, Izutsumi (Beastkin), Kabru, Shuro, Maizuru, Hien, Benichidori, Kiki, Kaka, Rin, Yaad, Delgal, Doni
So named for being the tallest of the human races aside from Ogres (who are extremely rare), Tallmen are the equivalent of what the reader would consider human. They are the most numerous of the human races, living across most of the world and making up about a third of the total world population. They stand at roughly 160 to 170 cm tall, live for about 60 years, and reach adulthood at age 16.Tallmen is the term for this race in the western parts of the world. In the Eastern Archipelago, they are simply known as humans, since they only coexist with one other race, the orges.
- All Trolls Are Different: "Trolls" in the world of Delicious in Dungeon actually refer to tallmen; it is used by half-foots as part of stories to scare children.
- The Bard: Namari claims that tallmen's racial hat is music and dance, though none of the major tallmen in the story are particularly musically inclined.
- Humans Are Average: Laios laments that tallmen don't have a strong inclination towards anything in particular, unlike a lot of the other races who specialize in certain fields. According to Namari, they do actually specialize in music and dance, but that does not mean an average member of the race will be naturally gifted in it.
- Humans by Any Other Name: In this world, "human" is an umbrella term used for most of the Demihuman races typical to fantasy stories. Tallmen are the proper equivalent to real-life humans.
- Non-Indicative Name: Downplayed, tallmen are on the taller side of the mortal races, but they are not the tallest. Ogres are much larger than them, but since ogres only inhabit a small region in the far east, the name stuck.
- True-Breeding Hybrid: Tallmen can have fertile children with ogres and half-foots.
Elves
Notable Elves: Marcille, Mithrun, Thistle, Pattadol, Cithis, Fleki, Lycion (Beastkin), Otta, Milsiril, Fionil, Flamela
The longest lived of the human races, recognizable by their pointed ears and lithe builds. Elves largely inhabit the Northern and Southern Central Continents, and due to their long lifespans and natural inclination towards magic, consider themselves the upmost authority on all things magical. Elves stand roughly 150 to 155 cm tall, live for about 400 years, and reach adulthood at age 80.Elves can have children with tallmen, though the result are not fertile themselves. Half-elves formed from these unions have longer lifespans than either parents, living upwards of 1000 years.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Some elves are born with black skin, white hair, and red eyes. This is a rare hereditary trait associated with royalty.
- Can't Argue with Elves: Since they live for so long, elves have a tendency to look on the younger races as children who need guidance, often ignoring their agency and bulldozing any objections to what they think is best.
- Elfeminate: Male and female elves look almost identical aside from a slightly difference in height, and it's often hard for other races to tell them apart.
- Functional Magic: The elves created one of two general magic systems. Elven magic sees magical spirits as natural phenomenon and commands them to perform a spell; while this is more consistent than gnomish magic, it is not as powerful and requires more mana.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: Half-elves are ostracized in elven society. For example, no half-elf is allowed in the Royal Court. Half-elves in elven literature are stereotyped as being cheerful but naive.
- Hybrids Are a Crapshoot: Half-elves don't age consistently, sometimes aging at the rate of elves, sometimes at the rate of their non-elf parent. One half-elf was still a toddler as a teenager, but an adult at age 50, decades before an elf would reach maturity. Half-elves are also sterile and cannot give birth.
- Hybrid Power: Half-elves live longer than both parents, having an expected lifespan of upwards of 1000 years.
- Immortal Procreation Clause: While elves can breed normally, and nothing is said about their pregnancies or sexual attraction being any different from the other races, half-elves, who can live twice as long, are sterile.
- Inhumanly Beautiful Race: Justified. Being the oldest and longest living race, and having had a great influence on a lot of other cultures, the standard appearance of elves is considered an ideal of beauty by tallmen.
- Long-Lived: Elves can live upwards of 500 years, with average lifespan lying around 400. This makes them the longest lived human race. Half-elves can live twice that long.
- Mayfly–December Romance: As the longest-lived of all races, relationships with elves become this with practically all of them.
- Our Dark Elves Are Different: "Dark elves" do not exist. Elves with brown or even pitch-black skin are no different than the skin colors of other races. "Dark elf" is a term invented by shorter-lived races trying to reason why some elves were kind and friendly, while others were rude and arrogant.
- Our Elves Are Different: They fall close to the Tolkien-esque archetype in both personality and appearance, being a long-lived race of beautiful humanoids with a natural inclination towards magic. They are also slightly shorter than tallmen on average and have very little sexual dimorphism.
- Proportional Aging: Elves stay as children for decades and aren't considered adults until they are around a hundred years old.
Half-foots
Notable Half-Foots: Chilchuck, Mikbell
Smallest of the human races and with an appearance that makes them resemble the children of taller races. Due to their short stature and lifespans, Half-foots have been known to be exploited by other races, and they mostly stay to themselves as a result. Only those with ambition and drive tend to travel outside their territories, leading to a stereotype of half-foots being cunning and greedy. Half-foots stand at roughly 95 to 100 cm tall, live for about 50 years, and reach adulthood at age 14.The name "half-foot" was given to them by other races, supposedly because the first sign discovered of them were their small footprints. They do have a term for themselves in their own language, though because it sounds similar to a slur in the common tongue, it's hardly used.
- Fantastic Naming Convention: Half-foot names consist of a first name, a last name, and their father's first name plus S or Z. Chilchuck Tims is thus actually Chil (first name), Chuck (last name), and Tims (father's first name plus S). His daughters would have the last name Chils or Chilz.
- Fantastic Racism: Due to their stout size and youthful features, half-foots are often the victims of discrimination, such as having their greater sense of hearing taken advantage of by being used as a canary to draw out sirens. They are constantly confused and treated as tallman children, especially by the longer-lived races.
- Hobbits: The classic Tolkienesque type, a race barely larger than tallman children who tend to stick to themselves but are good at sneaking.
- I Have Many Names: Half-foot is the most common, but they're also called Little People, Halflings, Imps, Goblins, and Lilliputians.
- Our Goblins Are Different: A supplemental comic mentions that "goblin" is one of the names for halflings, though "proper" goblins do apparently exist as a kind of demihuman/monster.
- Planet of Hats: Their quick fingers and natural stealthiness has given them a reputation as thieves and picklocks, though of course these skills can be perfectly well applied in legal trades as well.
- Proportional Aging: Fitting their shorter lifespans, half-foots also reach an age of maturity (14) quicker than other races.
- Short-Lived Organism: Half-foots live for about 50 years on average, and are adults at a very young age compared to tallmen. Chilchuck, who's in his late 20s, is considered middle-aged.
- Super-Hearing: Half-foots have extremely good hearing, able to hear things other humans can't.
- True-Breeding Hybrid: Half-foots can have fertile children with tallmen and dwarves.
- Unfortunate Names: Whatever they call themselves in their own tongue is never said, but it apparently sounds like a really nasty slur.
Dwarves
Notable Dwarves: Senshi, Namari, Daya
Great metalworkers and explorers of dungeons, dwarves are one of the longer lived races and have a long and bitter history with the elves. They have a very strong tie to their blood relatives, and as such has no overarching national government, preferring to stay in smaller clans. Dwarves stand between 125 and 135 cm tall, live for about 200 years, and reach maturity at age 40.Despite their love of dungeons, dwarves have no organization like the Canaries, preferring to explore dungeons at their own leasure without strict rules.
- Anti-Magical Faction: As a rule, dwarves have little inclination towards magic, and tend to feel bad when it's used on them. This is due in part to them having the lowest mana reserves of all races. As a result, most dwarves distrust magic on principle, not helped by their long enmity with the magic-using elves.
- Inhumanly Beautiful Race: In-Universe, they are considered this by half-foots. Like elves with tallmen, they are long-lived and have had a strong impact on half-foot culture, so their appearance became an ideal of beauty.
- Long-Lived: Not as long as elves, but they still live a respectable 200 years, and are considered one of the longer lived races.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Probably the most classic of the races in the manga, being metalworkers with a love of exploring underground places. Given the prominence of dungeons as a natural phenomenon in the setting, though, their inclination towards mining is expanded into a general love of exploring underground places like dungeons.
- Stout Strength: Dwarves are stronger and more durable than other humans, though this and their shorter size means they become exhausted more easily. As such, you don't see dwarves in heavy armor.
- True-Breeding Hybrid: Dwarves can have fertile children with gnomes and half-foots.
Gnomes
Notable Gnomes: Tansu Floke, Yarn Floke, Holm
A spiritual race that prides itself on having a close connection to nature spirits. Gnomes resemble dwarves and have close ties with them, to the point where other races sometimes confuse them, but are much more inclined towards magic. Gnomes stand at roughly 120 to 130 cm tall, live for about 240 years, and reach adulthood at age 40.Gnomes practice magic differently than elves, using a system that relies on asking spirits for aid rather than commanding them. The result is that gnome magic is less intensive to cast, but gives less reliable results.
- Long-Lived: Not as long as elves, but longer than dwarves, living to about 240.
- Our Gnomes Are Weirder: Physically, they're slightly shorter than dwarves, with comparatively lither builds, and their ears are located high up on their heads rather than on the middle like for most races. Culturally, they are spiritually inclined, using magic with a distinctly religious feel to it.
- Religion is Magic: Gnomish magic is also their religion. They see magical spirits as sacred, and their form of magic "asks" of the spirits to perform a phenomenon. While this is less consistent than elven magic, it is also more powerful and requires less mana.
- Tribe of Priests: As noted, they are spiritual, described as living alongside gods and spirits. The details of their religion isn't elaborated on, but Holm practices and Tansu expresses pride at his people's connection to spirits.
- Unequal Rites: Their conflict with the elves come down to this, gnomes finding the elf magic system (which relies on making the spirits do their bidding) to be brutal and barbaric.
Ogres
Notable Ogres: Tade
The tallest and broadest of the human races, ogres are easily identified by both their size and by the horns growing from their foreheads. Though they were at one point plentiful, their numbers have declined greatly in modern day, now only living in a few villages in the Eastern Archipelago and the Western Continent. Ogres stand at roughly 190 to 200 cm tall, live for about 58 years, and reach adulthood at age 15.A rumor claims that ogres lose their strength if their horns and fangs are removed, resulting in many ogres living in tallman settlements having them shaven off or pulled out.
- Big Eater: Their great appetite is noted as one of their most well known traits.
- Dying Race: Once they ruled an empire, now only a few remain, largely subservient to their neighbors. It's theorized that their great size is the cause of their downfall, preventing them from moving around quickly on horses like tallmen, or that their great appetite made them vulnerable to environmental changes.
- Horned Humanoid: The only human race to naturally grow horns, though some have them shaven off (willingly or not) out of a belief that doing so will weaken them.
- Our Ogres Are Hungrier: Physically, they resemble Japanese Oni, with humanoid bodies, fangs, and horns.
Demihuman Races
Orcs
Notable Orcs: Zon, Leed
A demihuman race resembling humanoid boars, orcs are often considered to be monstrous by other races due to their tendency to attack and kill adventurers. They are a race in diaspora, having been driven out of their lands by other races, and now taking up residence in dungeons and old mineshafts. Orcs stand between 150 and 160 cm tall, live for 55 years, and reach adulthood at age 14.- Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted. They are initially introduced as violent savages, likened to the actual monsters of the dungeons, but they're actually just territorial and defending their homes after being driven away from everywhere else.
- Exotic Extended Marriage: An orc's status in the tribe designates how many wives he is allowed to take. Zon has three wives, but a diagram Senshi shows indicates that a high-ranking orc might have as many as six.
- Horned Humanoid: Subverted. While high-ranking orcs like Zon appear to have horns, they are actually implants created by inserting monster bone under the skin as a status symbol.
- The Nose Knows: Orcs have a great sense of smell that they use to tell individuals of other races apart.
- Our Orcs Are Different: The manga foregoes the Tolkien-esque or Warcraft-esque designs for orcs, instead designing them to look like humanoid boars (in line with the earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons), with prominent noses, thin fur, and a great sense of smell.
Kobolds
Notable Kobolds: Kuro
A demihuman race resembling humanoid dogs, kobolds live in the desert regions of the Western Continent where they can survive thanks to their ability to survive even the harshest environments. Despite their cutesy appearance, they are ferocious in battle and not to be treated lightly. Kobolds stand between 140 and 150 cm tall, live for 55 years, and reach adulthood at age 13.- Made a Slave: It's noted that kobolds are often sold into slavery thanks to their cute appearance, and usually don't live long in slavery.
- The Nose Knows: Kobolds have excellent sense of smell, to the point where Kuro can tell what races the Touden party were just by leftover smells from when they passed by.
- Our Kobolds Are Different: Kobolds are dog-like, which comes from the earliest editions of Dungeons & Dragons, as opposed to the dragon-like depictions in later editions. They also have a strong resistance to all kinds of poisons.
- You No Take Candle: A kobold's vocal chords are not well made for speaking common, so even ones that try to learn it have difficulties with it, often resulting in this.
