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 quite shorter than that of the adult men around him.

Donovan's attire consists of 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. Despite his extensive investigation on the man, Loid was unable to find anything that could give him even a tiny glimpse of Donovan's personality until he met him at the Imperial Scholars mixer. Since losing power, Donovan is very cautious and rarely makes public appearances but regularly attends social gatherings at Eden Academy for his elder son, Demetrius.

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 let out a long and audible sigh until Damian let it go. Later, when Damian tells Donovan about his recent achievements at school, the man barely has a reaction, simply telling his son "Good for you." 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 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.

Damian Desmond
Despite his distant relationship with his second son, Donovan agrees to meet with Damian after the Imperial Scholars Mixer for unknown reasons, only claiming it to be on a whim when asked. However, during this meeting, Damian is shocked that Donovan simply brushed aside the fact that his own son was hit. When he tries to express his frustrations, Donovan lets out a long sigh until he backs off, which he smiles to. While talking to Loid, Donovan says in front of Damian that his children are strangers who are difficult to understand. After Donovan wraps up his conversation with Loid, he asks Damian what he wanted from their meeting, then starts walking away when the boy appears to have nothing to say. After Damian tells Donovan of his achievements, he praises Damian, albeit in a disinterested manner, before telling him not to besmirch their family name.

Demetrius Desmond
Little is known about their relationship, but it seems that Donovan appears to spend more time with his elder son because he is an outstanding student and an Imperial Scholar, as well as a worthy representative of the family, though the boy is aware that Donovan is a very busy man. It can be assumed that in the past, he (and his wife) came to Demetrius' orientation when he first entered the Academy and were in a group photo, which 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 appears to have an estranged relationship with Donovan, to the point of Melinda having her own residence. Seeing her reaction to Damian's mention of him, it seems that Melinda has a low opinion of Donovan, as her demeanor quickly fell, and she referred to Donovan as "that man."

Loid Forger
Donovan meets Loid for the first time during the Eden Academy's Imperial Scholars mixer, where Loid makes sure to create a situation that would force the two to meet. During their conversation, Donovan is seen as polite and amicable with Loid, and while he states that people will never be able to sympathize with another, he agrees with Loid's point of never stopping to try to get close and understand them. Before he leaves, Donovan says that despite their conversation being very short, it was pleasant and that he enjoyed it, and tells Loid he finds him a very interesting man. After Loid leaves, the men exchange quiet glares at each other.

Donovan is currently unaware Loid is actually a spy from WISE.

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