The Beheaded

"Aren't you the headless fellow that's been getting around?"

- Tutorial Knight

The Beheaded, also known as The Prisoner or The Fallen One, is the protagonist of Dead Cells. It appears to be a mysterious shadowy, gas-like substance, with a glowing crystal inside. The Beheaded prefers to possess headless bodies instead of moving around without one.

Story
Hardly anything is known about the origin of the Beheaded — the Beheaded itself seems unaware of how it came to be. However, it appears to be known by the prisoners (who seem to fear it) and a few others. The Beheaded hunts down The King, hoping that killing him will bring some kind of change to the world. The Spider calls the Beheaded an anomaly, and mentions that some "she" was looking for it. It is unknown who was this mysterious entity that was pursuing The Beheaded.

After killing The King, the beheaded will freak out after leaving the prison safe area.


 * ''"I don't understand a thing... "
 * "But the King is quite dead..."
 * "Why didn't anything change!?"
 * ""WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?"
 * "...What does it mean?"

Once defeated, The Giant reveals that the Beheaded is actually The King himself. Although The Giant never elaborated further, it is implied that The Beheaded is unaware of its nasty doings when it was the king.

Personality
While the Beheaded is unable to speak, it still has quite the personality. The Beheaded likes to make sarcastic remarks and jokes about the situations it finds itself in. It seems to have quite the mean streak, tending to kick bodies around, as well as pestering people. However, this does not mean it is completely empty of remorse and empathy. The Beheaded seems upset by the sight of the cruel orders from the king, grim at the sight of a guard killed by the effects of the Malaise, is seen telling a dead prisoner to "rest in peace", and lacking any kind of humor when finding a hanged woman. Its emotions are symbolized by the color of its textbox.

Abilities

 * The Beheaded can possess dead bodies, until said body becomes so damaged to the extent it becomes unusable.
 * Possessing a body is not instant. The Beheaded seemingly needs to "boot up" its body in order to use it efficiently.
 * With the use of the Homunculus Rune, the Beheaded can launch its "head" from the body while not losing control of the original.
 * A body does not need to be headless to be possessed, as seen when The King's body is possessed.
 * Even without a body, the Beheaded retains the ability to move around, though it does not prefer doing so.
 * The Beheaded seems to be immortal. No matter where it is killed, even in the Forgotten Sepulcher’s darkness, it always seems to survive and come back.
 * Perhaps it could be killed by targeting the "real" Beheaded, but it is unknown how easy this is, or if it’s possible at all. Even when The King hits the Beheaded with a vaporizing attack, it survives, though the body it possesses was destroyed entirely.
 * The Beheaded seems immune to the Malaise, but the bodies it possesses are not.
 * The Beheaded is a creature of an unknown species. The Heart of Dead Cells refers to his green mass as a homunculus.

Trivia

 * Only two NPCs in the game recognize The Beheaded as the King. They are The Giant and The Collector.
 * The Beheaded can somehow consume food even though he does not have anywhere to tuck them in.