| “ | Don't worry, Stiles. I'm not gonna kill you. I'm just gonna eat your legs! | ” |
— Donovan to Stiles Stilinski in A Novel Approach
| ||
Donovan Donati was a minor antagonist and character in Season 5 of Teen Wolf. He was first introduced as a young criminal who had been arrested countless times for breaking and entering, unlawful possession of a weapon, and other such crimes. During his last arrest for the aforementioned charges, when Sheriff Stilinski reminded him that the judge told him one more arrest would lead to jail time, Donovan became so enraged that he threatened to kill him several different times.
In time, it was revealed that he had been turned into a Chimera by the Dread Doctors, specifically a hybrid between a Wendigo and a Lamprey, giving him double rows of sharp fangs in his human mouth and an ability to create round, fanged lamprey mouths on any part of his skin.
After learning of his new powers and getting advice from fellow Chimera Theo Raeken, Donovan decided to get revenge the Sheriff by attacking his son, Stiles Stilinski. However, when Donovan came close to eating Stiles' leg while the latter desperately tried to get away by climbing a construction scaffolding, he was impaled through the chest with a length of metal that had been dumped on him by Stiles while he attempted to get away, unintentionally killing him.
Before Stiles could even come up with a plan for how to deal with Donovan's death, his body was stolen by a mysterious being who was later revealed to be Jordan Parrish, who was possessed by a Hellhound, also known as a guardian of the supernatural whose duty is to protect the secret of their world. Donovan's body was then brought to the Nemeton with the other failed Chimeras, where it was laid near the stump and partially burned.
Early life[]
Very little of Donovan's history prior to his introduction has been revealed. However, what is known is that his father was Sheriff Stilinski's partner when the latter was still a deputy. One night, when the two were on shift, they were sent to a house where a violent altercation was in progress. Stilinski insisted on calling for backup, but Donovan's father went into the house anyway instead of waiting for their fellow deputies to join them. He was then shot by the criminals inside, with the bullet tearing through his T9 vertebra and paralyzing him from the chest-down. ("A Novel Approach")
Donovan, worried about his father's condition, rushed to the hospital on his motorcycle; in his rush and the high speeds at which he was driving his motorcycle, he ultimately got into an accident that led to him being taken to the hospital in an ambulance as well. Both men needed surgery, and Donovan ended up receiving a skin graft to help heal his wounds, and since the graft came from another human donor, Donovan became a genetic Chimera, or a human with two different sets of DNA. As a result of this change, the Dread Doctors took notice of him and eventually chose him as a test subject to be turned into a pseudo-supernatural Chimera. ("Strange Frequencies")
At some point after he graduated high school, he applied for the police academy so he could become a deputy at the Beacon County Sheriff's Station, but between the results of his Anger Expression Inventory and those of the other psychological tests he took, it was determined that he wasn't a suitable choice for law enforcement. It's likely that what happened to his father in conjunction with the realization that he would never follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a police officer was what ultimately led him to a life of crime, and also caused him to develop a grudge against Sheriff Stilinski, and, by extension, his son Stiles. ("Condition Terminal")
Throughout Teen Wolf[]
Season 5Donovan made his first appearance in Creatures of the Night, when Deputy Clark brought him into the Sheriff's station in handcuffs. When Sheriff Stilinski saw him enter, Deputy Clark explained that he had been arrested for breaking and entering and unlawful possession of a firearm due to the loaded .38 pistol she found on his person. Stilinski sternly reminded Donovan that the judge who sentenced him for his last arrest said that the next time he broke the law, he would be sentenced to jail time. Donovan hastily insisted that the gun wasn't his, but Stilinski didn't believe him and instead instructed Clark to book him, which led Donovan to threaten to kill him out of anger that he was being arrested again. In Dreamcatchers, Donovan was taken from his holding cell and put into handcuffs by Deputy Parrish and Deputy Clark before being led out into the bullpen of the Beacon County Sheriff's Station in order to meet with his public defender, Mr. Stewart, who was to accompany him in the prison transport van to discuss his case while being taken to county. However, Donovan impatiently demanded that Mr. Stewart tell him the plea bargain he had managed to hammer out with the district attorney then and there; and upon learning that the least he could get was three to five years in prison (with the chance of getting out in two years), he immediately yelled for Sheriff Stilinski to come talk to him. When Stilinski, who was preparing to go on a date with Natalie Martin and who was in his office with his son Stiles and Stiles' best friend Scott McCall, came out to see Donovan, the young criminal once again threatened to kill Stilinski in front of the entire station. Stilinski looked slightly guilty (likely feeling badly about his history with Donovan's father, which seemed to have contributed to Donovan leading a life of crime) but otherwise remained calm and reminded Donovan that he was well aware with his anger issues thanks to the Anger Expression Inventory he took prior to applying to become a Sheriff's deputy. He then instructed the deputies to take Donovan and Mr. Stewart to the van. While on the way to the prison, Mr. Stewart verbally chastised Donovan for threatening to kill the Sheriff of the entire county in a room full of witnesses, including his own son, and pointed out that he'd be lucky to get Donovan decades in prison at this point. However, both men were distracted when the deputy driving the prison transport van began to lose control of the vehicle, frantically stating that he couldn't move the foot that was now pressing the gas pedal against the floor. The driver assumed he was having a heart attack, and he and Mr. Stewart tried to stop the vehicle before they all got hurt, not realizing that the driver had been exposed to Kanima venom, which was dripping onto him from a claw gash in the roof of the van. Finally, they were able to stop the vehicle in a tunnel heading into downtown Beacon Hills, only to be horrified by the appearance of Mr. Stewart's daughter Tracy Stewart, who had been turned into a Werewolf-Kanima Chimera and who began to viciously maul the driver, Donovan's guard, and Mr. Stewart, the latter two of whom were ultimately killed in the struggle. Fortunately for Donovan, he managed to escape the van through the trunk door, but still struggled to get away as a result of his hands still being shackled behind his back. He was running away so frantically that he tripped and fell into a puddle in a nearby alley, and when he turned to get up, he became terrified by the sight of the Dread Doctors approaching him. They picked him up off the ground, with The Pathologist and The Geneticist holding him still while The Surgeon placed a device around Donovan's ear that allowed them to drill directly into his brain through his ear canal to inject him with Modified Mercury, causing a silver nictitious membrane, or a "third eyelid," to form over Donovan's eyes. Soon after, Donovan would be found by Scott, who was able to track him by scent and bring him back to Sheriff Stilinski, informing him that Donovan had mentioned Tracy was the attacker. Later the next day, Stilinski went into the cell at the station where Donovan was being held to ask him about what he saw, attempting to subtly hint to Donovan that he was aware of the supernatural in hopes that he would feel comfortable telling him what really happened. However, Donovan still blamed Stilinski for the fact that he was locked up and refused to give him any information that could help him track Tracy down. Throughout the day, Donovan experienced negative side effects of his transformation, including headaches caused by his newly-enhanced sense of hearing and recurring bouts of his nictitious membranes covering his eyes. It wasn't until Tracy returned to the Sheriff's station that Donovan showed any sign of actual trouble, as the sounds of Tracy fighting Kira Yukimura in the bullpen made him terrified that the Dread Doctors would return. In Condition Terminal, the episode picked up where the previous one left off, and Donovan's fears were proven correct when everyone in the station were either too paralyzed by Kanima venom or too preoccupied with Lydia Martin's severe injuries to respond to his pleas for help, allowing the Dread Doctors to come and use their powers of electromagnetic manipulation to break him out of his jail cell. They then brought Donovan back to their operating theater, where they proceeded to strap him down to their exam chair and ignore all of his questions as to what they were planning to do to him. After conducting a brief examination, The Surgeon proclaimed Donovan's condition to be promising before grabbing a large and scary-looking pair of forceps. The Geneticist and The Surgeon then held him down while The Surgeon used the forceps to painfully extract Donovan's human teeth, causing double rows of Wendigo fangs to grow back in their place as he sputtered blood all over himself. Later that day, Donovan continued to weakly attempt to free himself from his restraints when Theo Raeken, who had just been revealed to be working for the Doctors, came down to talk to him. He briefly recounted Donovan's abysmal results on his Anger Expression Inventory and the other examinations he took to try to become a Sheriff's deputy, all of which indicated that Donovan possessed psychopathic behaviors that made him unfit for duty, before "sympathetically" agreeing that it sucked that Donovan would never become a deputy like his father. Theo then went on to explain that if he wanted to get his revenge on Sheriff Stilinski, the best way was to not use physical pain like that which was inflicted on Donovan himself by the Dread Doctors, but to use emotional pain by harming something Stilinski loves-- specifically, his son, Stiles Stilinski. After their talk, Theo released Donovan from his restraints, allowing him to track Stiles down to Beacon Hills High School, where he was repairing his Jeep after it had broken down once again. Donovan demonstrated his new Lamprey powers by creating a small, round, fanged mouth on the palm of his hand, which he used to painfully bite Stiles on the shoulder. In A Novel Approach, the episode picked up where the former left off, with Stiles struggling against Donovan's mouthed-hand, which was biting and sucking on Stiles' shoulder. After some time, Stiles was finally able to backwards-headbutt Donovan in the face, allowing him to grab his wrench and use it as a weapon against him to buy him enough time to run away. Stiles fled into the high school, ultimately running into the library, which required key card access. Unfortunately for Stiles, Theo had given Donovan his own key card, presumably anticipating this reaction from Stiles, which allowed Donovan to follow him. To make matters worse, Stiles had accidentally left his phone behind, which Donovan had picked up to prevent him from calling for help, and when Malia texted him, Donovan threatened to text her back to summon her here as well before pocketing the phone. Donovan went on to explain the history between his own father and Stiles' father Sheriff Stilinski, detailing the fact that Stilinski had insisted on calling for backup rather than following his father into a house full of criminals, which ultimately got his father shot. Donovan angrily informed him that since the bullet tore through his father's T9 vertebra, he was paralyzed to the point where everything below his waist was "useless," and went on to call both Sheriff and Stiles "whiny little bitches" while Stiles scowled furiously and hid between two bookshelves. Though Stiles eventually thought that Donovan had given up searching and left, this was eventually revealed to be a trick when Donovan reached through the shelf next to Stiles and pulled him through it, causing him to land on top of the shelf as it fell. Donovan dragged Stiles to the scaffolding that was being used to renovate the library, though Stiles managed to elbow him in the face and knock him backwards. At a loss for options, Stiles tried to climb up the scaffolding, where Donovan climbed up after him and began tugging on his legs to pull him down. Stiles desperately reached up and pulled a pin from the top of the scaffolding, hoping that by causing the metal construction materials to fall, he would be able to once again buy himself enough time to run away by disorienting Donovan. However, when the materials fell, they fell with enough force that one of the steel braces impaled Donovan through the chest and pinned him to the floor of the library. When Stiles, who had closed his eyes in fear as he pulled the pin, looked down and realized what had happened, he was both relieved and horrified by what had happened, only becoming more anxious when he saw Donovan die in front of him. Torn between doing the right thing by calling for help and wanting to keep himself from being implicated in Donovan's death, Stiles called 911 and then left the phone off the hook so that the Sheriff's deputies would be dispatched to the school before rushing out to the parking lot, fixing his Jeep, and hiding inside so he could watch what happened. However, while Stiles watched as the deputy walked into the school to check it out, he was shocked to see the same deputy come back to his cruiser and radio the dispatcher to tell her that the school was clear and that it must have been a prank call. Stiles waited until the deputy pulled away before he rushed back inside of the school, where he became extremely confused when he found that not only was Donovan's body gone, but all of the blood and any other evidence of his death had been removed as well in the few moments between when Stiles left and when he returned. Stiles began to worry that he may be losing his mind, but since he was unable to tell anyone out of fear of them finding out he had killed Donovan, even if it was out of self-defense, he kept this concern to himself. He was granted a small bit of relief later on that night, when Scott McCall called him to inform him that he had gotten an alert on his phone that the alarm had been tripped at the animal clinic, where he found that Tracy's body had been stolen; to make matters worse, Scott's mother, Melissa, had informed him that Lucas' body had been stolen from the morgue of the hospital as well, indicating that someone was grabbing the bodies of the Chimeras who had been discovered and killed recently. The next evening, when Stiles accompanied Lydia Martin, Kira Yukimura, and Scott to Eichen House to visit Gabriel Valack, he and Lydia passed a cell with a Sluagh in it that caused him to think that it was actually Donovan when he looked at him in the cell. Valack, noticing Stiles' brief moment of alarm, implied that he knew about what Stiles had done through his third eye when he asked what the younger man had seen when he looked at the Sluagh, explaining that they were creatures who could take the form of the lost souls who became inextricably bound to it. However, instead of telling the truth about what he saw, he retorted that everyone in the facility was a "lost soul" before changing the subject. In Required Reading, Theo Raeken, after having saved Stiles' life from the fellow Chimera Josh Diaz's attack, admitted that he knew that Stiles had killed Donovan and purposely didn't say anything because he assumed Stiles didn't want anyone to know. He then offered to continue keeping this secret so long as Stiles lied and said that it was the Dread Doctors and not Theo who killed Josh, as he, like Stiles, was afraid of losing Scott's trust. In Strange Frequencies, Theo brought up Donovan again during a conversation with Stiles while the two staked out the animal clinic in hopes of finding out the identity of the person who was stealing the bodies of the dead Chimeras. Later, Theo pointed out that Scott wouldn't be a True Alpha if he was the type of person to truly be upset that Stiles killed "a piece of crap like Donovan" purely in self-defense, but Stiles argued the opposite. When Theo asked Stiles how he felt the moment he knew that Donovan was dead and there was no saving him, Stiles reluctantly confessed that he felt good, which was exactly what Theo was hoping for due to his efforts to break the members of the McCall Pack away from Scott and toward himself. In Lies of Omission, Stiles accompanied Lydia Martin to the Beacon Hills Preserve in order to find the Nemeton, where they believed that Jordan Parrish had been taking the bodies while in Hellhound fugue states. However, once in the woods, Stiles became worried that they would find the bodies, which would not only implicate Theo in Josh Diaz's death, but would also implicate himself in Donovan's death. Stiles then left to go to the high school library to warn Theo about Parrish and Lydia's search in the preserve, where Theo suggested that maybe they should just tell Scott the truth, since after recent events, he'd be more likely to respond in a favorable way. During the conversation, Stiles hallucinated his own body impaled on the steel brace and bleeding black blood and Modified Mercury, just like Donovan's body looked upon his death, likely as a result of his guilt and shame regarding his role in what happened to him. Before Stiles could talk to Scott about it, Theo confessed to Scott that Stiles had killed Donovan, but instead of telling him the truth of what happened, he made it sound like Stiles had brutally murdered him in cold blood rather than having accidentally killed him in self-defense. Scott initially didn't believe Theo's story, but when he confronted Stiles about it, Stiles became defensive and inadvertently responded in a way that made it seem as though he was admitting to having killed Donovan in the manner that Theo had described in his lie, causing Scott and Stiles' friendship to fracture. In Damnatio Memoriae, the injured Sheriff Stilinski and Stiles met down in the hospital morgue, where Stiles finally confessed the truth about Donovan's death and his role in it. In Codominance, Scott and Stiles, while on a road trip to Shiprock, New Mexico to bring Kira Yukimura back to Beacon Hills, the two discussed Donovan's death, during which Stiles told Scott the true version of the story. Scott then assured him that he knew the difference between murder and self-defense and that he didn't blame Stiles for what happened. |
Personality[]
From the short amount of time Donovan appeared in the series, his personality was shown to be aggressive and impulsive, with an easily triggered temper and very little inclination or ability to control his emotions and the behavior they caused. According to what Theo Raeken read in the psychological profile that was done on Donovan when he applied to become a police officer, he had a high score on his Anger Expression Inventory, and his evaluation indicated that he was a borderline psychopath.
He showed an intense resentment toward Sheriff Stilinski, whom he believed was a coward for calling for backup rather than going into the suspect's house with his father, and whom he blamed for his father being shot and paralyzed. This resentment ultimately made him easily manipulated, as Theo was able to convince him that the best way to get back at Stilinski was to go after the thing he loves most—in this case, Stilinski's son, Stiles.
Donovan also appeared to be someone who was at least passively interested in gaining more power, as evidenced by the fact that, though he feared the Dread Doctors and was traumatized by what they did to him, he still managed to embrace his new powers and had no problem with using them against Stiles, even despite the fact that Stiles had never done anything to him personally, which demonstrated the intensity with which Donovan hated the Sheriff.
Physical Appearance[]
Donovan was a tall, lean man of medium stature with pale white skin, dark brown eyes, and wavy dark brown hair. He seemed to dress casually, usually choosing sneakers, grungy jeans, tshirts, and hoodies as his outfit of choice.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
Wendigo/Lamprey Chimera Physiology: Donovan was a Chimera, a human with two sets of DNA who was scientifically given the powers of two supernatural species without becoming truly supernatural himself. Like all Chimeras, regardless of species, in addition to the enhanced physical attributes, Donovan also gained several powers that resulted from his specific hybrid nature—part Wendigo and part Lamprey. Unfortunately, however, these powers are generally still inferior to that of a true shapeshifter, including the Wendigo species from which half of his powers were derived; he also seemed to be physically weaker than most Chimeras as normal humans like Stiles Stilinski could compete with him. It is possible that he possessed even more powers than those listed below and simply did not have the time to learn how to use them or demonstrate their use before he died.
- Super Strength: Donovan gained superhuman strength from his Wendigo/Lamprey side, demonstrated when he attempts to kill Stiles by briefly restraining him and moments later pulls him through a bookshelf which break apart.
- Super Speed: He possessed enhanced speed, fast enough to sneak up behind Stiles to place his double-rowed fangs on the latter's shoulder then manage to get him off guard in the library without being spotted.
- Super Agility/Reflexes: His Chimera DNA granted him better agile and reactions.
- Super Senses: Being a Chimera, allowed him (enhanced sight, hearing, and smell) when chasing after Stiles at the school he managed to track his scent in the hallway with his double-rowed fangs manifested on his neck guiding him to the latter's location in the library.
- Accelerated Healing: His body was able to heal from injuries faster than normal humans but wasn't invincible. As the human Stiles was able to stun him two times during their fight, though he recovered quickly both times until he was impaled by a scaffold which fatally killed him.
- Mountain Ash Immunity: Both parts of his supernaturalism granted him immunity to Mountain Ash because he was technically not supernatural.
- Shapeshifting: He had the shapeshifting powers of a Wendigo that allowed him to reveal glowing white eyes and also had a silver fictitious membrane over his eyes, but it is unknown which species from which this attribute came; it may have simply been a side-effect of the Modified Mercury that caused his transformation.
- Lamprey-Mouth Manifestation: In addition, to his Wendigo trait, Donovan could seemingly create round, fanged Lamprey mouths on any part of his skin, such as the palm of his hand or the side of his neck. Which possessed hunger for human flesh.
Abilities[]
Aside from his supernatural powers, Donovan also possessed several skills and abilities from even before he was transformed into a Chimera.
- Expert Criminal: As a criminal who had been arrested numerous times for crimes spanning from breaking and entering to unlawful possession of a firearm, it is likely that Donovan had at least some proficiency in skills such as lock-picking.
- Weapon Proficiency: Additionally, since his father was a police officer, it seems very likely that he has a general understanding of firearms and how they work, especially considering the fact that he was in possession of a .38 pistol the last time he was arrested.
- Combatant: He also possessed some skills in basic hand-to-hand combat.
Weaknesses[]
Hunger (allegedly): Because of how little is known about Wendigos and the supernatural Lamprey species from which Donovan gained his powers, a complete list of his weaknesses remains unknown. It's possible that his appetite he gained from being part-Wendigo could be considered a weakness due to the risk of exposure if his hunger became out of control.
Appearances[]
| This article is missing an appearances section. Please feel free to add one. |
Etymology[]
- Donovan: Donovan is a masculine English given name and family name that is derived from the Irish surname Ó Donndubháin, meaning "descendant of Donndubhán." Donndubhán itself is an ancient Irish given name composed of the Gaelic elements donn, meaning "brown," and dubh, meaning "black," a fitting name for the character Donovan, due to both his dark brown hair and eyes and his dark personality.
- Donati: Donati is a surname with numerous spellings (including Danet, Donat, Donnet, Donativo, and Donatelli) whose origins are English, Scottish, French, and Italian. It is most likely derived from the Latin donatus, meaning "to give." Interestingly enough, the name could also be a nickname for someone with dark hair or a dark complexion, as the variant spelling Dunnett could be derived from the Gaelic dunn, meaning "dark colored" and the suffix -ett, from petit, meaning "small," just like the given name Donovan. This makes the name Donovan Donati a double-reference to someone with dark hair or demeanor. Additionally, it could be an Italian patronymic surname referring to "son of Donato."
Trivia[]
- Cody Christian confirmed that Donovan was part-Lamprey on behalf of the writers at San Diego Comic-Con in 2015.
- Donovan is the fourth Chimera to appear in the series after Theo Raeken, Belasko, and Tracy Stewart.
- He was also the first Chimera to be killed by someone other than the Dread Doctors after he was killed in self-defense by Stiles Stilinski.
- Donovan is the third Wendigo to be appear in the series, and the only one of the three who is only part-Wendigo through his Chimerism. The first two were Sean Walcott and Patrick Clark.
- This excludes the rest of the Walcott Family, who were only shown on-camera after they were killed.
- Like Tracy Stewart, Donovan became a genetic Chimera because he received an allogeneic skin graft from an outside donor.
- The Sluagh in Eichen House took Donovan's form when Stiles looked at him. According to Gabriel Valack, the Sluagh can take the form of departed souls who have inextricably become bound to it, which suggests that Donovan's soul has a bond with the Sluagh somehow.
Gallery[]
See also[]