Detective Dan Espinoza is a major protagonist in the TV series Lucifer.
He is the ex-husband of Chloe Decker who initially often clashed with Lucifer Morningstar before the two eventually bond and become friends. In the fifth season he is killed by Vincent LeMec on the orders of Lucifer's brother Michael and is sent to Hell because of his guilt. Fortunately, He is able to work past his guilt and get into Heaven with Lucifer's help.
He was portrayed by Kevin Alejandro.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Dan was married to Chloe, but they eventually separated due to him prioritizing his career over her and their daughter Trixie. At some point Dan became aware of fellow detective Malcolm Graham's corruption and allowed it to continue. Malcolm was prepared to kill Chloe when she came close to finding out the truth which forced Dan to shoot him and put him into a coma.
Chloe continued to investigate Malcolm despite Dan pressuring her not to in order to conceal his own misdeeds.
Lucifer[]
Dan is annoyed when Chloe begins to solve cases with Lucifer who has an equal dislike of him, finding Dan to be incredibly condescending to both himself and Chloe. Dan helps Chloe investigate Malcolm and again attempts to get her to stop. Dan and Chloe seem on the verge of getting back together but then Malcom awakes from his coma and starts blackmailing Dan with threats against his family and knowledge of his unethical behavior.
Despite Dan's issues with Lucifer, he is horrified to realize Malcolm plans to kill him and tries to take him in to custody to stop him. Malcolm knocks Dan out and sends a text to Chloe, dumping her. Dan is taken prisoner by Malcolm but escapes and tries to find Lucifer to ensure his safety. When he manages to do so Lucifer has already made a deal with Malcolm for his own survival.
When Malcolm begins framing Lucifer for murders Dan is wracked with guilt and finally does the right thing by turning himself in. Dan is demoted but is allowed to keep his job for PR reasons.
Dan is annoyed when Lucifer attempts to be more normal by imitating him, but it ultimately leads to the two coming to an understanding about the other. Dan also becomes good friends with Lucifer's brother Amenadiel and gets into a relationship with Lucifer's mother, The Goddess though this is unknown to him as she possesses the body of Charlotte Richards. After Chloe's father's killer Perry Smith escapes justice Dan and Chloe's friend Mazikeen successfully plot to have the Russian Mafia murder him. When Lucifer is forced to send his mother to another universe Dan thinks Charlotte has just started to ignore him but later gets into a relationship with the real Charlotte.
By this time Dan's relationship with Lucifer has greatly improved and he even gives him advice about Chloe but this changes after Charlotte is killed as Dan blames Lucifer for not disclosing that her murderer Marcus Pierce was the criminal, The Sinerman. Dan becomes much more unpleasant and is frequently cruel to Lucifer whenever he speaks to him.
When Lucifer breaks a criminal's spine Dan takes advantage of this by telling the man's father. When this puts Trixie in danger Dan realises he needs to change and he becomes much nicer again, even to Lucifer. When Lucifer's brother Michael reveals to Dan that he was the devil Dan is scared and easily manipulated into shooting Lucifer. Despite this Dan worked with Lucifer to save Chloe after Michael has her kidnapped and the two remain on pretty good terms.
Later Michael has Dan murdered and his guilt causes him to go to hell. Lucifer helps his friend by keeping him from being tortured but he still can't leave Hell due to not being able to forgive himself though he doesn't know what for. Lucifer's daughter Rory from the future offers to help her him out of Hell if he helps kill Lucifer which he agrees to but only so he can try to warn his friend. On Earth only celestial beings can see him. Dan unintentionally possesses his killer Vincent LeMec when he tries to stop him from killing a man. After a chat with Lucifer Dan chooses to say goodbye to Trixie which lets him get into Heaven as it was his guilt about being a bad father that sent him to Hell.
Trivia[]
- Dan is the Arrowverse doppelganger of Brother Blood on Earth-1, due to sharing the actor.
External Links[]
- Dan Espinoza on the Lucifer Wiki
- Dan Espinoza on the Heroic Benchmark Wiki