| “ | I don't give a shit about "fate", "free will", "God" or any of that stupid crap. What matters is what's happening here and now, and what's gonna happen tomorrow if we don't act on the now. It's more than just a job that entails the protection of you chumps. It's a promise. Ain't no way I'm backin' out from that promise. Not now. Not ever. | „ |
| ~ Derous |
Derous is a dragon and the most powerful enhanced agent of the Nightstalkers. He is an aloof and brash individual, but friendly nonetheless, who serves Abigail Hawkins, the head of the Unnatural Analysis Unit, and is the partner of Curtis Kilgrave another enhanced agent of the Nightstalkers. He is also considered the adopted son of Merlin.
Overview[]
While his outwardly appearance resembles a human, Derous is in fact a mighty and powerful dragon, reputed as one of the strongest of his kind. He belongs to the Red Dragon class and naturally possesses immense raw power. Derous is revealed to be the dragon that was said to have been 'slain' by Saint George himself but instead of ending the dragon's life, Saint George took pity on him and spared Derous on the condition that he never again threatens any human inhabitants. Moreover, it is also revealed that Saint George had Derous swear allegiance to him and would call upon the dragon when the time was right.
Several thousand years pass and Derous found himself employed by the grand wizard Merlin. Derous was called upon by Merlin to help aid the wizard in protecting Sir Gawaine, one of the knights within King Arthur's court with Gwaine in fact being the descendant of Saint George. Seeing that Derous swore to Saint George to serve him he must also serve his kin by proxy. He was said to have aided Merlin in the creation of the fabled Excalibur which would allow the mighty King Arthur to dominate his most fearsome enemies and crush entire armies. His contributions in saving Camelot was what made Arthur wove his image as a red dragon on the kingdom's flag. Despite Gawaine's death of old age, Merlin assured the red dragon that his lineage would live on and that they would call upon him when the time comes to save the world from dark forces. Derous would wander into the enchanted forest of Brocéliande where he would remain until a descendant of Sir Gawaine and Saint George awakened him.
In the modern age, Derous would come to serve the Nightstalkers, or the Unnatural Analysis Unit, which was formed under the recommendation of Franklin D. Roosevelt , becoming its most powerful agent and weapon and only used when the Nightstalkers are faced with an enemy that their mortal firepower cannot overcome. He served under the heads of this branch for years with his servitude being passed over to their next of kin, the latest being Abigail Hawkins, however Derous would only answer to those who carry the blood of Saint George himself and moreover must pass an "initiation" test to see if they are worthy of calling upon his power. Despite being their greatest weapon, Abigail does not treat him as such and the two have a typical brother-sister type bond. He would also be partnered with Curtis Kilgrave, a ghost, when tracking suspects or culprits that are not usually found on the normal radar.
Appearance[]
Derous, in his human form, was quite a behemoth as he stands roughly around seven feet in height with a heavily muscled physique. He has olive skin, reddish brown hair and eyes, which are sometimes depicted as reddish-brown or golden with slit pupils—the latter of which is to distinguish his true nature as a dragon. Derous also wears a red headband bearing his draconic insignia, and keeps his spiky, waist-length hair tied at all times.
He wears a tight, black undershirt with the top half covered by a red long-sleeved leather jacket, along with white jeans. His belt buckle has the word "FREE" scratched on it and a drape of red cloth hanging down beneath. Derous also wears a pair of black fingerless gloves, red shoes, and a several enchanted belts, including a lone one on his left bicep, which serve as inhibitors for his power.
Personality[]
Derous is seen as a simple-yet-aloof dragon who is content with having a small circle of friends. He is mostly introverted but can strike up conversations with people he is genuinely fond of. His introverted nature makes him come off as cold and distant at times but this was mainly due to his limited contact with some of the agents of the bureau within the Nightstalkers. Moreover, given his status as a dragon, he has a rather complicated view on humans, often regarding them as being petty and tiny though he also sees them as weak which grants him a sort of privilege to protect them. Derous also takes great pride in being a dragon and exhibits genuine anger and disgust towards those who would imitate the power and image of a dragon as shown with his disdain towards Satan assuming the form of a dragon.
In the beginning, Derous was violent, savage, and highly prideful. He was also rather sadistic, often taking pleasure in frightening humans into submission and have them offer him sacrifices in exchange that he does not destroy them all. Much like all dragons, Derous was a lone wolf and kept to himself, and would not hesitate to engage in a fierce conflict against others that encroach upon his territory. He also viewed humans as feeble, weak-minded, and predictable. Regarding them as ants that do nothing but follow the same "programming" they were given repeatedly and only evolving thereby corrupting said programming to become something worse. However, his viewpoint on humans changed when he met and lost against Saint George, becoming utterly shocked and perhaps enlightened by the strength that humans wield and their tenacity to never give up even in the face of insurmountable odds. While he still had a low opinion on humans afterwards, Derous' reluctant servitude to Gawain (a descendant of Saint George) began to take a shift on his mentality, whereby instead of using power to inflict terror upon the weak, you would use power to protect the weak and inflict terror upon your enemies.
In the modern days, Derous is displayed as being gruff but quite friendly with others. Having a calm and composed demeanor and is at ease with himself. He does have something of a short temper, often becoming extremely annoyed by the rowdy antics of others as evidenced when he tossed the wolf twins, Kervyn and Egor, out of the Egyptian temple for their crude humor. He himself could also make humorously cynical quips which bounces off rather well with someone like Dante whom he befriends later on. He freely taunts his opponents and expresses his boredom and disappointment in the many battles he was in throughout his time as an agent of the Nightstalkers. This sense of boredom stems from the fact that he wields unthinkable power and has not met an opponent that could truly push him. But when he does, Derous expresses elation and becomes ecstatic when meeting said opponent, which in this case was during his first bout with Dante in the 42nd Street Subway. He is also incredibly brave and extremely determined, never backing down from an enemy no matter how powerful as shown when he continued his brutal assault against Lucifer even when the Morningstar ascended to his divine state.
Derous could even have romantic relations, and none is more prominent than with Constance Raveau, an owner of a gun shop that provides weapons for the Nightstalkers. Initially, Derous admitted that he would draw the line at the concept of love but when he met Constance that definitely changed which also ties into his fascination and even admiration for humans as they would keep surprising him. His love for Constance is due to the fact that she loves Derous for who he is as a person and doesn't care about the fact that he is a dragon. To her she sees the man and not the monster which moved Derous and prompted him to believe that someone who sees you for who you are and not a monster is someone worth keeping. Before his final battle with Lucifer, he makes it clear that truly cares for his friends and that he would put his own life on the line for them.
Powers and Abilities[]
Seeing that dragons are some of the most extraordinarily powerful supernatural beings, it is no question that Derous himself is extremely powerful in his own right. Among his allies, Derous is noted to have the most amount of raw power, and coupled it with his speed and proficiency in his combat prowess makes Derous an extremely dangerous opponent. His files in the GOC database categorizes him as an Omega-level and ranking him among the strongest members in the Dark Knight Initiative, with the likes of Dante, Vergil, Alucard, Miguel, Johnny Blaze, or Hellboy. His enormous power is attributed to the fact that Derous is in a state of constant boredom, as all the opponents he engaged in the past, up until meeting Dante then Maulax to Lucifer, could not give him the thrill he desired. Moreover, he wields so much power in his being that he himself took precautions by designing several inhibitors to limit his power.
Derous, being a red dragon, wielded powers from birth which vastly increased with time and experience. Because of his great power, Derous hardly puts any effort in his attacks, becoming methodic and basic. However, when he gets serious, Derous displays extremely remarkable levels of combat likely due to thousands of years worth of combat experience. While not as flashy as Dante or quick to the point like Vergil, Derous does not have a particular fighting style but is capable of quickly adapting to any opponent's method of fighting and showcases brutal displays of fighting. His combat prowess allows him to fight evenly with Dante who is an extremely powerful fighter himself to the point where Dante commended Derous by saying that he hasn't fought anyone with that level of skill in years. Derous appears to mix swordplay and physical combat, often swinging his blade with his left hand and using his right for more physical attacks. He could also switch between them.
Naturally as a dragon, Derous possesses vast amounts of literal firepower. His flames are said to be so hot that it can reach a temperature that equals or exceeds that of the sun itself. He can unleash streams of powerful flames from his mouth which often becomes a massive beam depending on how many inhibitors he releases and how much he puts into it. He can also project said flames from his hands and his feet as well, firing rapid streams of fireballs from his hands, unleash massive waves of fire from his sword, and could also channel his flames through his guns for damage increase which completely obliterates a target in nothing but three shots. He could channel his fire through his hands and sword to augment his striking capacity and could even fashion his fire into things like a wall or serpents; he can change the trajectory of his flames. Derous is also no stranger to magic and is quite adept at using magic such as fashioning powerful seals that keep his latent power at bay and could cast spells that help increase the damage output of his attacks. Derous' weapon of choice is the Fuuenken, a uniquely designed sword with a rectangular blade, the blunt part which seems to have an exhaust/engine-like device that spews forth flames. The weapon itself is capable of generating high-power flames, which he can use to augment both his physical and sword attacks.
Derous' greatest ability is in fact the Dragon Install which he only resorts to using when he becomes serious or desparate. When using Dragon Install, Derous gains an extraordinary boost in strength, speed, regeneration, and power allowing him to dominate all but the strongest of enemies. He admitted to Dante during their first bout that it is rare for him to use the Dragon Install and when unleashed was capable of even making the legendary devil hunter struggle greatly. Even when Dante assumed his devil state, Derous still managed to keep up with the intensity of their fight increasing to such devastating levels that they threatened to destroy the entirety of the subway and a large portion of the street they were under. His fire abilities also drastically increase to where a stream of pyrokinetic energy from his mouth severely injured Maulax in one blast with Maulax himself being a powerful dragon in his own right. In his battle against the Harlot of Babylon, Derous is capable of firing energy beams powerful enough to deflect the Harlot's energy attacks with his own. When releasing almost all of his inhibitors, he was even able to match and completely negate one of the Harlot's largest energy beams using said attack. He could also use his magic during such attacks to emit miniature versions of the beams that can bend and arc to deflect other attacks while he is occupied.
However, even in this state, Derous does not fully go all out even with the small inhibitors on his person. In fact, the only seal that truly prevents him from unleashing his full power was his headband. Upon removing the headband, Derous uses his latent energy to boost his body to speed and power far beyond normal limits, allowing him to become quite the challenge for Lucifer himself but at the cost of putting an immense burden on himself and even shortening his lifespan. Moreover, this fully-released state of his Dragon Install also puts the lives of those around him in great danger to where he told John Constantine to form a shield around Abigail, Lucas, Integra, and Seras for the output of his energy would immediately incinerate them. His true and unrestrained power of his Dragon Install is so insurmountably vast that he stated that he could set fire to Earth's atmosphere and destroy all of human life. Also, this highest level of his Dragon Install is akin to that of a meteor breaching the Earth's atmosphere to where he becomes a bright flash of light which would permanently blind any onlooker or even completely render them to ash.
