Damian Valdez

**Damian Valdez** is one of the main characters of *Xrosism*. He is a tenth-grader at Mirage Senior High School and is a leader and co-founder of the Nightowls and led the resistance against the Clockwork. A witness to Jayce Niles’ sacrifice, he swore to help rebuild along with the other Generals and helped found the Talons United Army. He’s typically the “eccentric one” in friend groups, and wishes to become an actor. He specializes in puns. As a General, he possesses a green Xros Loader, which allows his soldiers to “DigiXros,” allowing them to fuse together.

Damian is a rather energetic hero, and because of his tendency to get bored extremely easily, his friends have to keep him in check to make sure he doesn’t forget about a task. He’s Sommer Fulton’s neighbor and practices volleyball with her in his or her yard, but he doesn’t play on a team. He admires her for her skills and eventually begins crushing on her throughout the book, and is initially jealous of Jayce when the two are freed from the Chronograph. In *Anamorphism*, he continues staying by her side, supporting her although she isn’t responsive at times. Though his teammates appear vastly different from him, they have many similarities at heart and are able to work as a team, Sommer excluded due to her betraying them.

## Biography

### Early Life

Damian Valdez was born in Seville, Spain on February 4, 2000. He comes from an upper-middle-class family. He grew up and is currently being educated at Mirage Senior High School.

He lives with his mother, Ariel Valdez, and his father, Juan Jose Valdez. Damian’s parents are both formerly-famous young actors from Spain, but have since retired from acting. He had taken acting classes from a young age and hasn’t moved onto Hollywood acting yet, although he does want to after high school. For now, he often stars in Theater Club’s multiple plays, and works at a movie theater, occasionally sneaking in his friends. At some point in late elementary school, he was diagnosed with ADHD. When a young child, they were in New York City when a stray dog attempted to brutally attack him, leaving a scar on his arm where he defended himself. Ever since then, he’s had a phobia of dogs. Damian’s popular throughout MSHS, considered friendly and attractive.

## Personality

Outside of life as a General, Damian lives the life of a popular 16-year-old high school student. He becomes bored extremely easily and moves on from hobby to hobby, forming connections with people in a variety of fields due to this. When bored, he tends to daydream - on multiple occasions, Sommer has found him lying in bizarre positions, such as upside down with his feet propped on the back, on his couch, simply watching his clock. Damian likes going on shopping sprees with friends and rides his bike with them, as he isn’t permitted to drive anyone around other than family due to the law.

He’s determined to align himself with his own morals, defiant and stubborn. People tend to call him chaotic neutral. He has ADHD and is quite talkative, motioning with his hands and being generally expressive. Damian enjoys neon and has neon lights in his room, as well as in his car. If he’s in the mood, he’ll wear neon clothing.

When he first received his Xros Loader, he was incredibly thrilled, and easily rose to the leadership position after Sommer betrayed them. Despite being thrust into a war, he decided to make the most of it, having somewhat of a YOLO mindset.

Damian uses puns often and is fluent in Spanish, speaking it occasionally. When stumbling upon something puzzling to him, he’ll say “how unusual.” When needing to pass or interrupt someone, he says “pardon me” loudly. He loves griffons and wishes they’d exist. When nervous, Damian loses his appetite, forcing someone to have him eat. Although he’s raised Christian, he isn’t Christian himself, being only agnostic. He enjoys swimming and baking and listens to meme music and Bruno Mars. His favorite food is quesillo. Damian is shown to be left-handed and identifies as heteroflexible.

## Appearance

Damian is a teenage boy of average height. He has a thin build with a bit of muscle, blue eyes, short, curly, brown hair with long, curly bangs, and tanned skin. He has a bite-shaped scar on his right forearm, where a stray dog had attacked him.

At the time he is transported to the Digital World, he wears a long-sleeved (with the sleeves rolled up to beneath the elbow), unbuttoned, green flannel, a gray Skyrim T-shirt, black track pants with white stripes, and white sneakers.

## Equipment

* **Xros Loader**: The Digivice used by human characters partnered to Digimon in the Digimon Xros Wars universe. Damian’s is a neon-green color.
* Can temporarily combine Digimon together through "DigiXros"
* Can temporarily evolve Digimon through "Super Evolution"
* Can generate a viewscreen to track Digimon in the Real World

## Facilities

* **Valdez Residence**: The Valdez Residence is a three-story house in Norworth, Virginia, home to Damian, Ariel, and Juan Jose Valdez, and Paella.
* **Mirage Senior High School**: The school that Damian and Sommer attend. It is a public high school that has the highest-ranked volleyball team in the area, as well as other decent sports programs.

## Etymologies

* **Damian**: An English, Polish, and Dutch name from the Greek name *Damianos*, which was derived from Greek *damazo*, meaning "to tame.”
* **Valdez**: A Spanish surname that means "son of Baldo.” Baldo was originally a short form of names containing the Germanic element *bald* "bold, brave", such as Baldovino and Teobaldo. In Italian, it can also be short for the non-Germanic name Baldassare.

## Relationships

### Family

* Ariel Valdez - Mother
* Juan Jose Valdez - Father
* Paella - Cat

### Allies

* Jayce Niles † - Teammate, friend
* Sommer Fulton - Best friend, teammate
* Linda Samberg - Friend, teammate

## Trivia

* Originally named *Dan Yugo* and was formerly in a discontinued Xros Wars fanfiction, *Digital Union*.
* Inspired by Rick Riordan’s Leo Valdez and Hooky's Nico.