Pronounced: Di-ra-n-du, last name Albatou (A-r(u)-ba-ta-u)

'L' does not really exist in Japanese, so the 'r' sound is used for 'L' in foreign words (like Gaean) A Japanese 'r' sounds rather like an 'L' spoken not quite at the tip of the tongue (as in 'Dilandau'), or a slightly rolled 'R'. The official (if not terribly accurate) romanized spelling is Dilandau Albatou, the katakana gives a clue as to the rest of the pronunciation. The (u) in 'ru' is basically silent here.

Age: The equivalent of 15 Earth years. This appears to be considered adult on Gaea. (15-year-old Millerna, Episode 9: "I'm an adult now!") It is also the age at which Fanelian kings are traditionally old enough to be crowned, and it's apparently an age of marital consent.

15 is considered adult in some Earth cultures, too. (All of which makes better justification than "animé creators just have an obsession with high-school-sophomore-aged main characters" - which they do...)

Birthdate: Red, 8th Moon (Equivalent of August 8)

Birthplace: Unspecified location on the world of Gaea Family: Unspecified Height: 175 cm (~5'8") - taller than most (if not all) of his subordinates - the easier to glare down at them? Weight: 61 kg (~135 lbs) Hair: Silver-white. Reputed to be soft and silky. (I'll verify that soft and silky hair does indeed tend to acquire that "bang flip" with no effort in "wash 'n wear" mode.) Eyes: Magenta/"garnet". Note: none of this necessarily indicates that Dilandau is albino, IMHO. Believe it or not, I know a number of people with ty-negative albinism. Their hair is cream-colored (a bit yellowy), not silver-white. When albinism occurs with red or violet eyes (ty-neg.), the pupil of the eye is also pink. People with albinism always have problems with vision, and many have very low vision (20/200 is typical for ty-neg.) or are blind.

Dilandau looks quite pale, especially in the bluish lighting of the 'Vione', but really no lighter than most people around him (And Zongi is far whiter.) It is quite common in the Animéverse for people (of all ethnicities) to have hair and (huge, round) eyes of many colors not found in our world, like aqua, pink, purple, green... Folken has red eyes, Van has maroon eyes. And blue-eyed ash-platinum-haired people are generally also not albino either, so unless melanin can magically appear where there was none (as opposed to an alteration of existing features)...

Build/looks: Moderately tall, slender, androgynous and seriously ((bishounen)) (pretty-boy). Prone to a wide variety of wild and crazy facial expressions, including his trademark sadistic smirk. Distinguishing features: Sword-cut scar on his right cheek, courtesy of one Van Fanel , king of Fanelia, in Episode 5. (This infuriates Dilandau, possibly more because someone dared do it than because it mars his "beautiful face".) Attitude: Charismatic, arrogant, vain, smug, egocentric, maniacal, ruthless, violent, cocky, insubordinate, obsessive, impulsive, capricious, moody, prone to megalomania.

"Does not handle frustration well" is an understatement. He's a petty tyrant, and rather sadistic. As a leader, Dilandau frequently punches or slaps his subordinates (contrary to popular belief, slapping is not a "feminine" behavior but instead a very practical one - it inflicts pain but virtually no damage.)

IMPORTANT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: Things he appears deficient in are: self-control, compassion, a conscience.

Occupation: Cool Villain. Leader of an elite military unit of Guymelef (mecha) soldiers known as the Ryuugekitai (DragonSlayers) of the Zaibach Red Copper Army. (Based on something Dilandau says in Episode 4, it appears that the Ryuugekitai have a prior history of hunting actual dragons, which may be where they got the name. I doubt they were created just to hunt down Escaflowne.)

Affiliation: Nominally the Zaibach Empire, but more likely himself (and the Ryuugekitai.) Dilandau is consistently insubordinate to his superiors, with the exception of the emperor Dornkirk, to whom he shows some respect. Guymelefs: Alseides model (with flight capability, stealth cloak, flame-thrower and liquid-metal Crima Claw), later the Oreades model (can also fly while in stealth mode). Dilandau prefers his personal Guymelef painted a distinctive red. (Either Zaibach has some really busy techs, or Dilandau must go through quite a few Guymelefs, considering how he trashes them...) Dilandau likes: Battle, destruction (to excess), fire (at least in battle - he seems to have way too much fun burning things), Asturian Vino. For a 15-year-old, he sure seems to drink a lot.

More(psych report!): The more the series progresses, the more glimpses one gets onto Dilandau's manic-depressive personality. He is actually one seriously unhappy person, and seems to thrive on adrenaline rushes in battle as a substitute for anti-depressants.

Dilandau is emotionally dependent on the Ryuugekitai, for all he that appears to treat them harshly. There's obviously more going on, because they are fanatically loyal to him, and care about his well-being. (In fact, they function at times almost like surrogate family.) They seem to know how much he needs them and that he really does care about them, although he probably would not admit it. (Dilandau definitely has trouble expressing his feelings.)

I don't know if it's canon or not, but Dilandau supposedly handpicked the DragonSlayers himself, often rescuing them from really lousy circumstances. (This would explain why they are all about his age, too... hey, there's some compassion! Ulterior motive: it also would ensure they are more loyal.)

So is he insane? Dilandau is often described by his fans as insane. He IS clinically insane aside from the manic-depression.

Debut: Episode 3. Other appearances: Episodes 4-7, 9-16, 23-26 Seiyuu(voice actor): Minami Takayama (It is not unusual for a younger or seriously bishounen male character in animé to be voiced by a woman, ie: Himura Kenshin of "Rurouni Kenshin". This does create some confusion when Dilandau's voice is first heard. However, IMHO Ms . Takayama is a voice acting genius - e.g.: Dilandau can call someone "incompetent" with his tone of voice clearly indicating he means something quite different.

Does he or doesn't he? Dilandau doesn't really show the typical interest of most guys his age for girls (of course, there are practically no occasions where he's anywhere near girls.) He certainly looks at Hitomi in Episode 3 like she's some sort of stinkbug. Some fans speculate that he's more interested in his pretty-boy DragonSlayers. It's up to the viewer, of course.