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Angelwings

Do I look like a jaguar? Act like one? Talk like one? Yes, I was born that way, but I don't remember it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a person who can shift into a cat. I'm fully assimilated...
―Dez[src]

Desdemona, better known as Dez, was a Mayan jaguar warrior[1] and a member of Angel Investigations. She served with the team only a short while[2] before a soul eater killed her.[3]

Biography[]

Early life[]

They want us to be human, but they treat us like animals. We owe them nothing.
―Dez[src]
Dez and sisters jaguar

Dez and her sisters.

Desdemona was a jaguar cub who, along with her two sisters, was granted human form by Mayan priests. They killed their mother, and one of her sisters did not survive the ritual. The priests raised Dez and her surviving sister Penelope, among others from other jaguar litters, to be their warriors, to fight on their side during the prophesied "end of days."[1]

Growing up, Dez and Pen were the subject of monthly rituals to retain their human form, but were also kept prisoner and beaten if they rebelled. Pen felt that they owed the priests their humanity, but Dez was tired of being treated like an animal, and was willing to risk her human form by escaping.[1]

Los Angeles[]

Dez and penelope ritual

Dez tries to restore Penelope's humanity.

The sisters traveled to Los Angeles and were present when the city was sent to hell. As Dez found work as an assassin, Pen began to revert to feline form and could not change back. Dez performed the ritual to return her sister to human form, but, during the spell, Los Angeles returned to normal and she could not find Pen anymore.[1] Meanwhile, across L.A., animals were being transformed into humans; Dez realized what was happening and worked to return them to their natural forms, recognizing that, unlike her, they did not want to be human.[4]

To pay her dept to the Lord of Sherman Oaks, Dez was sent to assassinate Angel, the vampire Champion of L.A. Instead, she allied herself with Angel, killing the Lord and helping put an end to the assassination attempts. However, Angel's allies Kate Lockley and Gwen Raiden didn't trust Dez;[5] Gwen followed her and witnessed Dez returning a gorilla to its normal form. Wrongly assuming she was transforming humans against their will, Kate and Gwen took Dez prisoner.[1]

Eventually learning the truth, Kate released Duz and listened to her story, and Dez returned back to normal the remaining animals the Angel Investigations team had gathered.[4] The Potentates refused to work with Dez, accusing her of being an "abomination against nature," but Connor sided with her and left with Dez. However, once the AI learned the Potentates wanted to turn Dez back into a jaguar, they fought and broke off their alliance with the angels.[6]

Dez joined Angel Investigations in the Hyperion Hotel[7][8] and actively took part in a mission to locate Angel after he was kidnapped by Innovation Labs.[2] She was eventually killed by a soul eater named Liss, sent by Myresto Mor to kill Angel and Spike.[3] In the aftermath of Dez's death, Illyria asked the team if they should grieve; Angel promised they would.[9]

Powers and abilities[]

Dez transforming

Dez transforms from human to jaguar.

As a jaguar warrior, Dez was a jaguar granted human form through Mayan rituals.[1] In human form, she retained feline abilities such as heightened agility and claws. In jaguar form, she experienced some limitations, such as the inability to talk. According to James, Dez's ability to retain human form was gradually fading.[citation needed]

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

References[]

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