Summary

• Delicious in Dungeon creator Ryoko Kui has officially debunked the theory that Laios is autistic.
• Ryoko Kui asserts that Laios' personality doesn't make him any different from anyone else.
• Despite disappointment among fans, Laios not being autistic doesn't diminish his relatability or the quality of the series.

Fans of a story adapting headcanons about characters is extremely common, and Delicious 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 in Delicious in Dungeon, and series creator Ryoko Kui has finally weighed in on the discussion. Kui was interviewed during her guest appearance at Anime Expo 2024, and it was through that interview that Delicious in Dungeon creator 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 among Delicious in Dungeon fans 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 in Delicious in Dungeon has 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, so even without being autistic, Laios is still the character in the anime people 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.

Source: Ryoko Kui interview via Anime News Network.