Dilandau Albatou

"'Hey, it's your fault. The city's on fire because of you. My cheek is throbbing because of you. So DIE!'"Dilandau Albatou (ディランドゥ・アルバタウ Dirandu Arubatau) is one of the main villains of The Vision of Escaflowne and Escaflowne.

He is the commander of the Dragonslayers, Zaibach’s elite squad of Guymelef pilots, and the pilot of the red Alseides and Oreides Guymelefs.

Appearance
Dilandau has short silver hair and red eyes. He wears a gold diadem on his forehead with a purple jewel in its center. He is dressed in a black Dragonslayer jacket with gold accents, that has red shoulderpads and armoring rather than blue. He wears black pants and red boots that come up to his knees, and a red sword belt. Around his waist, he wears a red and black uniform skirt. Underneath his uniform, he wears a lilac tank top with white laces on it and a pair of dog tags on a chain.

Personality
Dilandau is hot-headed, vain, and arrogant. He is very rash and acts upon his impulses, relishing in destruction. He quickly develops intense grudges against his enemies, exemplified best with Van, and stops at nothing to take revenge. This ruthlessness, in addition to his skill as a Guymelef pilot, makes Dilandau a formidable warrior. However, his traumatic past led to a deep-seated fear of being alone, which haunts and paralyzes him in spite of his proclivity toward wreaking unbridled havoc.

In the anime
"'I haven't hunted dragons in such a long time. This is going to be such fun!'" Dilandau is first seen scolding the Dragonslayers for letting two of the Alseides units get damaged in Fanelia. He slaps Dallet and Shesta, and says he doesn't want "incompetents" in his Dragonslayers. It turns out that Dilandau ordered the burning of Fanelia to the ground, despite Folken's admonishment that it wasn't necessary.

Dilandau and his Dragonslayers arrive at Castelo, where Dilandau asks Allen for supplies and support, and whether he's seen a strange Guymelef in the area. Allen counters by asking him about the burning of Fanelia, and he calls it a run-down country, which leads Van to lash out in anger. Dilandau ignores Van and instead looks at Hitomi, scrutinizing her strange appearance, but Allen tells Dilandau that she's his "new lover" and gives her a kiss. Disgusted, Dilandau tells Allen he lives up to his reputation and leaves the fort with his men.

Dilandau and his men burn down Castelo; Allen and the others escape aboard the Crusade. Dilandau and the Dragonslayers give chase, and to prevent any more damage to the Crusade or threat to his friends' lives, Van lures Dilandau and the others away with Escaflowne. Dilandau quickly beats up Van, and Folken takes Van and Escaflowne prisoner aboard the floating fortress Vione. When Folken activates Escaflowne with his blood, causing Van to be ejected from its pilot seat, Dilandau finds out that Van is the king of Fanelia and the pilot of Escaflowne. While Van is trying to escape the Vione, Dilandau sneaks up on him and initiates a fight, telling him he hates him and wants him dead, and Van leaves a wound on his left cheek.

Dilandau obsesses over the wound left by Van, unable to forgive him for scarring his "beautiful face." When Van is on the bridge in Palas talking to Folken, Dilandau attempts to kill Van with a Crima Claw launched from above, but he misses due to Hitomi's intervention. Since his desire for revenge has not been sated, Dilandau grows impatient and wants to attack Palas, but Folken instructs him to wait, because Emperor Dornkirk has found the location of the Power Spot in Freid; to attack Freid, Zaibach needs to use Palas' harbor as a staging ground, so causing damage would be unwise. Dilandau's desire to avenge his scar and wreak havoc leads him to disobey Folken and burn down a section of Palas. Allen, however, stops him before he can do any more damage, and Van, Hitomi, and Merle escape aboard Escaflowne.

On the way to Freid, Dilandau and the Dragonslayers launch another attack on Van. Dilandau figures out that Hitomi is the reason why Van can keep sensing the Dragonslayers' attacks, even when they are in stealth mode. When Van takes the battle to the lake so that the Dragonslayers cannot use their stealth cloaks, Allen intervenes to help out. During the battle, several of the Dragonslayers are defeated by Van and Allen, including Migel. When Migel goes down, Dilandau fires a Crima Claw at Van, who slices it into pieces with his sword, and one of the branches of the claw is about to hit Hitomi when Allen intervenes and takes the hit for her. As the Freid convoy approaches, Folken orders Dilandau to pull back.

Dilandau is introduced to Zongi, the Doppelganger who works under Folken. When Zongi kills Migel after he finds out about Zongi's role as a Doppelganger, Dilandau decides to take revenge by killing Zongi. He tries to attack Hitomi, knowing that her power is dangerous, but Van and Hitomi escape unscathed. Zaibach invades Freid, and Dilandau attacks the Duke, but is interrupted by Allen. Van intervenes and uses his newly-acquired dowsing ability to spot the stealth-cloaked Alseides units, stunning Dilandau.

After Van recovers from his wounds, Dilandau and the Dragonslayers launch another attack on him. Van's bond with Escaflowne and his dowsing power lead him to go on a murderous rampage in which he wipes out every Dragonslayer. Terrified, Dilandau calls out for his men, and upon realizing that they are all dead, orders Van to stay away from him. Before Van can deliver the killing blow to Dilandau, he experiences a vision of the Dragonslayers he just murdered, and, overcome with fear, goes into a catatonic state, Escaflowne turning black just as Dilandau narrowly escapes.

Back on the Vione, Dilandau laments his men as pathetic, but when he realizes he is now alone, he becomes sick and passes out. He is next seen screaming and calling out for his men, having been strapped to a table by the Sorcerors, who talk amongst themselves about the weakening of the Fate Alteration placed on Dilandau, and give him an injection to silence his screams.

Dilandau disappears for an extended period of time. He is next seen asking his new subordinate, the beast man Jajuka, about his Dragonslayers. Jajuka explains that they are all dead. Dilandau throws off his uniform jacket and rips his shirt in half. When he finds out that Jajuka is under his command, he gathers himself together and stands up, putting his coat back on, expressing excitement about the upcoming battle. However, during the battle with Van, Dilandau begins to have another breakdown, and calls for Jajuka to come protect him. Hitomi's wish for Van to stop fighting leads to a pillar of light appearing and transporting Dilandau away from his current location.

True identity
'Warning: This section contains plot or ending details. To skip this section, click here.' "'You won't end people's hatred just by striking down Dilandau!' - Allen Schezar"After Dilandau is transported out of battle, he and his Guymelef land in the Asturian swamps near the Schezar mansion. A woman climbs out of the pilot seat and begins walking toward the mansion, and she eventually makes it to the room where Allen is sitting. Allen recognizes this woman as his long-lost sister, Celena, who disappeared ten years ago. However, Celena is mentally absent; she does not talk or make any indication that she remembers who she is, much to Allen's distress. While Allen, Eries, and Celena are visiting Encia's grave, Celena experiences a sudden bout of pain and her bones and muscles crack, and she suddenly morphs into Dilandau and calls for Jajuka, who rescues Dilandau and returns him to Zaibach. Afterward, Allen finds out from Folken that Celena was the victim of a Fate Alteration experiment that turned her into Dilandau.

In the final battle, Jajuka, seeking Dilandau on the battlefield, has flashbacks to his past as Celena's guardian. He was assigned to take care of Celena when she first arrived in Zaibach, and grew to care for her; in the same way, she viewed him as an important emotional support. During Van and Dilandau's final battle, Jajuka is killed protecting Dilandau. Before his death, he tells Dilandau that it's all right to return to Celena, which leads to his reversion into Celena.

Van, not realizing who is really inside the Oreides unit, tries to kill Dilandau, and Allen intervenes, telling him not to kill Dilandau, because Dilandau is his sister. Unable to give up his grudge toward Dilandau and Zaibach, Van engages in battle with Allen. Meanwhile, Celena disembarks the Oreides, and, looking at Scherazade, realizes that Allen is inside, through a combination of Dilandau's and her memories. She calls out for Allen, and after Hitomi convinces Van to stop fighting Allen, Allen jumps out of the pilot seat of Scherazade and is reunited with his sister.

In the ending, Celena is seen standing with Allen in the graveyard. It is unknown whether Dilandau ever resurfaces.

In the movie
"'One of my soldiers just died. But he was a fool to die. Now, it's play time. Let's have some fun.'" In the movie, Dilandau is of partial Dragon Clan birth, having the same psychic abilities as Van and Folken, though it is unclear whether Dilandau also has wings or not. Folken took him in after finding him living with feral dogs. Dilandau works for the Black Dragon Clan under Folken and, as in the series, commands the Dragonslayers.

Folken sends Dilandau to sneak up to the Abaharaki caravan to feign an attack, with the end goal of retrieving Hitomi. He asks Shesta to tell him who's inside, and Shesta tells him the exact location of Hitomi. Desiring to kill everyone instead of just getting Hitomi, Dilandau chooses to ignore Folken's orders and Jajuka's advice and directly attack the Abaharaki caravan. A battle ensues, and a beast person, Nukushi, escapes with Hitomi, Van pursuing him. Van tries to convince Nukushi, who is a friend of his, not to fight, but Dilandau kills Nukushi by mistake. This enrages Van, who uses telepathy to blow Dilandau's horse to pieces. Van and Dilandau fight using telepathy, which blows the ground apart. Van and Hitomi fall, and Dilandau and the Dragonslayers escape.

Folken uses his telepathy to twist Dilandau's body as punishment for his disobedience, but because Dilandau still has Dragon Clan blood, Folken refuses to kill him, seeing him instead as an asset. Folken decides to use Dilandau to test the power of the ancient Dragon Armor, the red Alseides, because his mixed blood will help resurrect it. Dilandau is stripped down and placed inside the Dragon Armor with syringes attached all over his body. The Alseides is resurrected, and Van and Dilandau engage in battle. They are evenly matched until Dilandau uses the flamethrower on his Alseides, which causes Van to flash back to the death of his parents, and the severed head of his father telling him to fight. Van starts attacking Dilandau with murderous intent, and Dilandau is trapped until Escaflowne's heart stops beating and Van suddenly goes into a catatonic state. Dilandau uses this momentary paralysis as an opportunity to escape.

At the end of the movie, Dilandau is seen with his three surviving Dragonslayers, riding on toward their next fight.

Trivia

 * According to the way Dilandau holds his sword, he is right-handed.
 * In the drama CD Thought of Jeture, it is revealed that Dilandau was given command of the Dragonslayers when he was fourteen.
 * In the movie, although Dilandau is of Dragon Clan birth, it is unknown whether or not he has wings like Van and Folken do.
 * Dilandau is a Char Archetype, or Char Clone. Char Clones are characters in seen throughout the Gundam franchise, and other media of Sunrise, that bear resemblance or pay homage to Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam. Both he and Dilandau pilot red mecha, have light-colored hair and wear red outfits. Both are also primary antagonists.
 * Dilandau's Bandai dub actor, Andrew Francis, would have been about fifteen at the time of recording his lines for "The Vision of Escaflowne", the same age as his character.