| Xavier Desmond | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
| Real Name | Xavier Desmond |
| Aliases | Des, Mayor of Jokertown |
| Gender | Male |
| Class | Joker |
| Wild Card Traits | Prehensile trunk (proboscis) |
| Social Information | |
| Citizenship | Citizen of the United States, deceased |
| Occupation | Nightclub owner |
| Event Participant | 1987 WHO Tour |
| Base of Operations | Jokertown |
| Affiliations | The Funhouse, Joker Anti-Defamation League (JADL) |
| Relatives | Mary Radford Desmond (wife), Joanna Horton (daughter), Robert Van Ness and Cassandra Horton (grandchildren) |
| Allies | Angelface, Dr. Tachyon |
| Origin | |
| First Appearance | Wild Cards |
| Final Appearance | Aces Abroad |
| Creator | George R.R. Martin |
Xavier Desmond is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books.
History[]
Xavier Desmond was an investment banker with a wife, a two-year-old daughter and a bright future. In 1946 the alien xenovirus exploded over New York City and changed that all forever. Desmond was released from the hospital to find his wife had left him. Shortly after that, he lost his job with Chase Manhattan and was evicted from his apartment on Riverside Drive. He soon moved to Jokertown, where he got a job at the Funhouse nightclub.
Desmond was stung by the injustices inflicted on himself and all jokers. By 1964 he had founded the Joker Anti-Defamation League, which was dedicated to the peaceful promotion of joker civil rights. During the next two decades Desmond was able to purchase the Funhouse. Under his guidance the club became a prime New York destination. It was an elegant night spot where jokers and nats both came to enjoy top joker cabaret acts.
By the mid-70s Desmond had become the most prominent spokesman for joker rights. Within the small world of Manhattan he had the unofficial title of "Mayor of Jokertown." A proud, intelligent man, Des was one of the minority of jokers who would not conceal their faces behind a mask, nor would he accept a Joker “nickname”, nor would he permit others to apply a nickname to him. He remained Xavier Desmond until his death, proud to be who he was.
In 1984, Desmond resigned as president of the JADL but still maintained ties with the organization. Secretly knowing that he was dying Des accepted an invitation to join the World Health Organization’s tour, ostensibly to document how jokers were being treated around the world. In reality it was to fulfil a dream both he and his wife once shared to travel the world. The cancer (untreated during the tour) progressed, slowing Des considerably, but during the Shadow Fist/Mafia war he used his influence to instigate a neighborhood watch association, composed solely of jokers, to safeguard the streets of Jokertown.
In mid-1987, The Funhouse hosted a televised AIDS/Wild Card Benefit that saw the return to prominence of C.C. Ryder and Buddy Holley. Soon After, Desmond died of cancer (July 16, 1987). Dr. Tachyon did not even realize how sick Des was because he proudly chose to rely on ‘joker’ doctors. The journal that he kept during the WHO-sponsored trip, titled “A Year in a Man’s Life: The Journal of Xavier Desmond”, was published posthumously. All Jokertown mourned his passing. Unfortunately, The Funhouse, the legacy of this sensitive man who refused to wear a mask or take an alias, was closed shortly after his death.
Wild Card Traits[]
Desmond has a pink, two foot long elephantine trunk in place of a nose. It has seven prehensile fingers dangling from the end.
Appearance[]
Desmond is a large, well-dressed florid man with a pink, two foot long elephantine trunk in place of a nose. It has seven prehensile fingers dangling from the end.
Selected Reading[]
- Wild Cards Volume I: Wild Cards - "Shell Games"
- Wild Cards Volume IV: Aces Abroad
- Wild Cards Volume XXXII: Sleeper Straddle