Flayer

Flayer is a term with several related senses. In its most basic sense, a flayer is a person who skins animals or humans, or a tool used to remove skin, such as a flaying knife or other flensing implement. Flaying is the act of skinning, typically performed in the processing of hides for leather or depicted in stories of torture. In historical and industrial contexts, flayers were workers in tanning and hide production, and the trade required skill and careful technique to work efficiently and safely.

Beyond literal skinning, the word is used in metaphor and in fiction to describe entities or characters that remove or strip away something from others. In fantasy and horror literature, games, and related media, the term flayer is often applied to monsters or antagonists whose hallmark is painful or ritual skin removal, though the exact nature of their abilities varies by setting. A closely related term is mind flayer, a well-known creature in the Dungeons & Dragons universe; while mind flayers are a psionic species, the use of flayer in such contexts reflects a broader tendency to name terrifying beings after skin-related actions.

See also: flaying, skinning, mind flayer.