Donovan Desmond

"Our children may share our blood, but they aren't us. They're essentially strangers. It is impossible to understand strangers. In the end… people will never truly be sympathetic with each other."

- Donovan to Loid and Damian in Chapter 38

Donovan Desmond (ドノバン・デズモンド) is the Chairman of the National Unity Party of Ostania and Twilight's current target. He is the main antagonist of the SPY x FAMILY series.

Appearance
Donovan is a gaunt man with light skin and wide, sunken eyes, seemingly always open so that they appear nearly perfectly circular, with extremely shrunken pupils and a complete lack of irises. His hair is black and combed back, appearing to be closely shaved on the sides of his head, with a lock of gray-white hair on his left. He has a noticeable mustache and a lack of eyebrows. There is a line of scars at the sides of his head. Donovan's ears are also pierced. The only time he is seen surrounded by people, his stature is revealed to be shorter than that of the adult men around him.

He wears a tan brown suit with a black tie that is held together using a brooch with a star-shaped symbol.

Personality
Donovan is described by Loid to be an inscrutable person. He seems to place great importance on achievements as he is negligent towards his younger son, Damian. When Damian tries to question his father, Donovan simply lets out a long and audible sigh until Damian lets it go. Mysteriously, despite his great emphasis on the Desmond name, he is not offended and even disinterested in the fact that Anya hit his son. He is very cautious and rarely makes public appearances but regularly attends social gatherings at Eden Academy for his elder son.

He believes that people can never truly sympathize with each other, even to the point of thinking of his own children as strangers. Loid alludes that this may be why he seeks to cause war, in order to control others through military force instead.

Nevertheless, he is surprisingly still able to be human, because when he sees Damian's desire to achieve more, he praises him even though he received only 50 points for his reading test. In addition, by buying out George Glooman's father's company, he saved jobs for people, thus avoiding total layoffs.

Background
Donovan is a former Prime Minister of Ostania. He is also the husband of Melinda Desmond, as well as the father of Damian and Demetrius Desmond.

Donovan has previously made public appearances, however, he has disappeared from the public eye for unknown reasons and now he only attends social gatherings at Eden Academy, the school both of his sons attend to.

Damian Desmond
Despite his distant relationship with Damian, he agrees to meet with Damian after the Imperial Scholars Mixer for unknown reasons, only claiming it to be on a whim. In addition, although he said that even his own children can be strangers who are difficult to understand, he still praised Damian for the Stella he received when, on Anya's advice, he told his father everything he felt.

Demetrius Desmond
Little is known about their relationship, but it seems that Donovan spends more time with his elder son because he is an outstanding student and a worthy representative of the family. In addition, in the past, he (and his wife) came to Demetrius' orientation when he first entered the Academy and were in a group photo that was not done for Damian, which perhaps indicates some of Donovan's favoritism for his elder son.

Melinda Desmond
Based on Loid's observations, Melinda seems to have an estranged relationship with her husband, to the point of Melinda having her own residence. Nevertheless, they periodically attend Eden's events together for their elder son.

Chapter Appearances

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Anime Appearances

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Trivia

 * Operation Strix (Loid's main mission), the purpose of which it is named after Donovan and has a double meaning:
 * Strix is a genus of owl that seems to be a reference to Donovan's unique bulging eyes.
 * Strix is also a mythical creature that feeds on flesh and blood, which is a reference to the intentions of Donovan and his party to foment a war between two states, which will cause many people to die again.

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Donovan Desmond