Summary
Fans of a story adapting headcanons about characters is extremely common, andDelicious in Dungeon’s protagonist, Laios, is no exception. Ever since the early days of the manga, people have often assumed that Laios is autistic due to his singleminded obsession with monsters and his difficulties with expressing himself and reading social cues, and by the time of the anime, the headcanon was largely being treated as fact.
Laios being autistic has always been one of the biggest theories made about his character inDelicious in Dungeon, and series creator Ryoko Kui has finally weighed in on the discussion. Kui was interviewed during her guest appearance atAnime Expo 2024, and it was through that interview thatDelicious in Dungeoncreator Ryoko Kui gave a definitive statement on whether Laios is autistic.
That’s disappointing for anyone who was a fan of the theory, but overall, it shouldn’t be the kind of thing that detracts from someone’s enjoyment of it.
Delicious In Dungeon’s Creator Puts The Story’s Biggest Theory To Rest
Original series created by Ryoko Kui; anime adaptation produced by Studio Trigger
At Anime Expo 2024, Ryoko Kui was asked about her opinion on the headcanon of Laios being autistic, the fight he had with Shuro about his seeming lack of care about Falin being brought up as an example. In response,Ryoko Kui stated that there’s nothing special about Laios and that she feels like “everyone can relate to a person like him,” and the fight with Shuro was just a product of their respective problems. That means Laios was never written to be an autistic person, just someone bad at interacting with others, plain and simple.
Why Laios Not Being Autistic Isn’t A Problem In Delicious In Dungeon
Laios Is The Same Character He Was Before
Following the release of Ryoko Kui’s interview, there was notable controversy amongDelicious in Dungeonfans who had adopted the headcanon of Laios as being autistic. In addition to autism having a severe lack of representation in media, especially in anime, people who were on the autism spectrum found Laios’ character especially enjoyable because they could relate to his actions and the way people treated him, both positively and negatively. Because of that,Laios not being autistic inDelicious in Dungeonhas received criticism from anyone who related to his character, and it’s easy to see why.
As disappointing as it might be for Laios not to be autistic, Laios is still a socially awkward man who has trouble understanding others and expressing his feelings for things outside of a few key areas, soeven without being autistic, Laios is still the character in theDelicious in Dungeonanimepeople can have an easy time relating to, with Ryoko Kui even saying as much in the same interview. Overall,Delicious in Dungeon’s Laios not being autistic doesn’t change anything about his character or his relatability, and that’s a great hallmark of the overall quality of the series.
Delicious in Dungeon
Cast
Based on the manga series, Delicious in Dungeon is a comedic fantasy series with a cooking emphasis. The series follows the exploits of a guild leader named Laios as he heads into a massive dungeon that contains a sunken kingdom, lured by the promise of untold treasure if he can slay the magician that caused it all.
