Folklore around the world is rife with headless monstrosities, and few are as well-known as the Dullahan, the headless horseman of Irish mythology. As popular as they are in books, movies, and music, it should come as no surprise that video game narratives abound with dullahan as well. This October, I decided to see just how many dullahan in video games I could dig up before the sun rose.

What follows is an exhaustive list of every game I could find that included at least some sort of interaction with a headless horseman. Fellow headless hunters, I’ve done the work for you—now you, too, can fight, befriend, or otherwise engage with as many dullahan as you like this Halloween. No tricks—only treats.

All lists are in alphabetical order, to make things easier both for you and for me.

The Dullahan as an Enemy

“There is a rumour of a Headless Knight who is a brutal slayer and deliverer of death. No one can escape from his blade in the same way that death comes to all, eventually.”

— Akumajō Dracula: The Arcade

Being the intimidating tall, dark, and deadly creatures that they are, dullahan seem an obvious choice for any fantasy or horror game in need of a good, strong, spooky enemy. Some headless enemies sport the classic bone whip or scythe as a weapon, while others get a little more creative with axes, lances, spears, and more. A few even prefer to use their heads. Literally.

• AdventureQuest: While not exactly your typical dullahan, this game features a punny monster called The Horseman that sports equine hindquarters and lacks a head. In other words, he is, quite literally, a headless horse man.
• Assassin’s Creed: Rogue: Players can find (and fight) the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow if they look in the right place at the right time. This instance is technically anachronistic, as the game takes place in 1790—well before the horseman’s death, which was supposed to have taken place during the Revolutionary War.
• The Binding of Isaac: Both the original game and Rebirth feature a Headless Horseman boss that will randomly appear in the place of a regular Horseman enemy.
• Blue Dragon: Again, while not technically a dullahan in the traditional sense, the decapitated centaur-like boss in this game is a play on words.
• Breath of Fire IV: A levitating dullahan may be encountered as either a random enemy or boss.
• Castlevania: The first dullahan to appear in the series wore the guise of a spectral headless knight in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Dullahan have since appeared in numerous installments—and various forms—since.
• Cursed Fates: The Headless Horseman: This hidden object game puts the player in Ichabod Crane’s shoes as they search for clues to unravel the mystery of Sleepy Hollow and prevent the Horseman from removing more heads from their rightful bodies.
• Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening: A dullahan is one of the lesser demons protagonist Dante faces in the third installment of the original Devil May Cry series.
• Disgaea: Hour of Darkness: The Dark Knight monsters are armor-clad dullahans with flames where their heads should be.
• Dragon Quest: Dullahan are Undead enemies in a number of games in the Dragon Quest series, starting with Dragon Quest VIII.
• Dullahan: Scary Horseman Headless: This indie horror game by itch.io developer Andrey takes a page right out of Slender Man: The Eight Pages, sending players on a quest to find six skulls while avoiding the Headless Horseman (and his several spooky friends).
• Final Fantasy: Dullahan are no strangers to the Final Fantasy franchise either; dullahan bosses have been a staple of the series since FFIII. A headless set of haunted armor can also be battled in the FF-adjacent game Vagrant Story.
• Golden Sun: The optional dullahan boss in Golden Sun: The Lost Age is notorious for being the deadliest foe in the game, and he returns as a boss once again in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.
• House of the Dead 2: Kuarl, codenamed Judgment, is a huge headless suit of armor who makes up one half of a deadly duo the player faces in the first boss encounter of the game. He also appears in a flashback in House of the Dead III.
• Mabinogi: The Dullahan enemy in this game rides a Hell Steed and wields a deadly axe.
• MapleStory: A rather fatally cute Headless Horseman astride a bright pink steed haunts the Phantom Forest.
• Mystery Legends: Sleepy Hollow: Another hidden object game based on the Washington Irving story, this Mystery Legends title pits players against the clock (and the Horseman) in a race to unearth Sleepy Hollow’s darkest secrets.
• Shadow Man: 2econd Coming: One of the arena enemies is a Dullahan whose head can fly while his body battles the player.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Beginning with the very first installment, dullahan appear often throughout the main series and related titles as demonic enemies.
• Shining: Players fight “Durahan” enemies in both Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention and Resurrection of the Dark Dragon.
• Sleepy Hollow: This entry for the itch.io public domain game jam, developed by ExcaliburJS, is a race to the finish line with high stakes—the headless horseman rides hard on protagonist Ichabod Crane’s heels.
• Soul Sacrifice: A dullahan appears as an archfiend in DLC for Soul Sacrifice and Soul Sacrifice Delta.
• Strider 2: A headless “Tortured Creature” enemy appears as a bronze suit of armor with a detached, flaming skull.
• Team Fortress 2: During Halloween events, the powerful (but not quite invincible) “Horseless Headless Horsemann” wreaks havoc in Mann Manor.
• The Touhou Project: Though technically classified as a specific type of Japanese ghost known as a rokurokubi, the boss known as Sekibanki is also sometimes referred to by the Touhou games and their creators as a dullahan. She appears in both Double Dealing Character and the Impossible Spell Card.
• World of Warcraft: During the Halloween seasonal event, players can battle the Headless Horseman and win his helm and steed.

The Neutral Dullahan

“He wears a pumpkin for a head now, until he finds what he’s looking for. Like I said, I haven’t seen ’em, but I have seen the bodies he leaves lying about, headless and grotesque.”

— Daniel Boone, Assassin’s Creed III

Despite their patently dark nature, not all dullahan are evil. Or at least, not all of them are out to get you. I was able to find just three video games featuring dullahan that are neither friend nor foe to the player. (The second example is my favorite.)

• Assassin’s Creed III: In the third AC game, protagonist Connor can investigate a mystery involving a headless horseman. 
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: The player may encounter the Headless Horseman ghost if they happen to be wandering around the right part of Skyrim at night. No two night’s journeys are exactly the same; the Horseman meanders, and does not always reach his grim destination before sunrise.
• The Harbinger’s Head: In my own interactive fiction novel, The Harbinger’s Head, the player is forced to aid a dullahan in his quest to retrieve his stolen head. The dullahan’s nature, like that of many fae, is fickle—though he appears an enemy at first, the player’s choices ultimately determine his attitude towards them at the end of the game.
• Puppeteer: This game’s Headless Horseman—who also happens to be both a mayor and a father—can be found in Halloween Ville, for obvious reasons.

The Dullahan as an Ally

“I see visions; my body, headless, raging without me. My body, wielding my sword, a sword forged only to kill. My body will show no mercy. If you see the wretched thing, stay far away.”

— Vengarl of Forossa, Dark Souls II

While the headless horseman who can truly be described as “friendly” is rare indeed, these precious few games feature dullahan whom the player can actually rely on for help when it’s needed.

• Dark Souls II: Vengarl of Forossa is a surprisingly amiable dullahan who will happily come to the player’s aid as a summon once his unruly body is subdued.
• Monster Rancher: The unlockable “Durahan” monster has been a mainstay of the franchise since Monster Rancher II. The player uses commands to guide them during fights in much the same way as you would a Pokémon—controlling the monsters indirectly, rather than actually playing as them.
• Fate/Grand Order: Let’s just say the Headless Horseman is on the player’s side, for once, in this particular story. Well, as much as he is on anybody’s side (aside from his own).

The Dullahan as a Playable Character

“During the time of the Civil War, a mercenary dragoon ravaged the area. Killed by a band of farmers, they blew off his head with a musket.”

— Ghost Master

For some players, hanging out with a dullahan doesn’t sound nearly as thrilling as being a dullahan. Happily, there are several headless protagonists out there to choose from as well.

• Battle Monsters: This versus fighting game features a playable dullahan named Headless Harn who uses his detached cranium as a deadly weapon.
• Clash of the Monsters: Another versus fighting game, this time featuring iconic horror story characters such as the Headless Horseman (as well as Ichabod Crane) as playable combatants.
• Dullahan: An indie side-scrolling platformer created for #gbjam, Dullahan stars a headless horseman as the main protagonist and player character. The player’s goal? Reunite with their own long-lost head, of course.
• Dullahan Dan: This comedic take on the classic legend developed by HeadStrongGames has players struggling to help the eponymous Dullahan Dan get to his job in the big city on time while balancing his precariously positioned head.
• Ghost Master: In the Spooky Hollow, you can recruit the powerful Dragoon—a headless rider—as one of your potential party members once you defeat his head.
• Headless Jack: Fabian Fuchs’s Headless Jack and Headless Jack 2 let you play as the headless wonder himself, who happily wields his pumpkin-head as a weapon while he fights his way through several spooky levels.
• Overwatch: Halloween skins for player characters include a “Pumpkin” skin for Reaper, which seems to be most definitely inspired by Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman.
• Rumble Fighter: While you can’t play as a dullahan directly, you can put on a Dullahan ExoCore to increase your power in a slightly Otherworldly way.
• Stumbling Horseman: In this indie title, the player must locate their missing head before sunrise, or else. Oh, and it’s really dark out. Too bad dullahan don’t carry flashlights.
• Virgil’s Purgatory: Player character Virgil seeks both his head and eternal rest in his own personal postmortem purgatory.

Bringing the Dullahan Legend to Life in Video Games

Like most legends, the story of the dullahan seems to shapeshift with each new telling, and no two are exactly the same—especially when it comes to video games. Some dullahan are friends, some are enemies, and some remain somewhere in between. But since real-life headless horseman sightings have become so rare these days, it seems we’ll have to turn to virtual worlds now to satisfy our curiosity.

Just take care not to lose your head—you never know when it might go wandering off on its own…

The Harbinger’s Head is an interactive fiction novel featuring a narrative strongly influenced by Irish folklore about dullahan and other fae creatures. Click here to learn more, or play it now on PC, Mac, Android, or iOS!