André DiMera
André DiMera is a fictional character from the NBC daytime soap opera, Days of Our Lives. The role was originated in 1983 by Thaao Penghlis when André was introduced as the nephew of Stefano DiMera. Having undergone plastic surgery to look identical to Stefano's stepson, Tony, André—on Stefano's behalf—sets out to frame Roman Brady for a series of murders. However, plans go awry as André claims several victims including Stefano's daughter Renée DuMonde. André's later plans to help Stefano heal his brain tumor and get revenge on their enemies culminates in André's presumed death in November 1984.
While Penghlis would return to the series for several stints, between 1993 and 2007, it was in the role of Tony. However, in 2007, the character's history is retconned and it is revealed that André was very much alive and had been masquerading as Tony since 1993. The character's return in 1993 saw him feud with John Black for the affections of Stefano's adopted daughter Kristen Blake. Hoping to destroy John forever, André fakes his death and frames John landing him on death row—but André's schemes are exposed and John is cleared. André, still under the guise of Tony returned in 2002 having developed an obsession with John's wife Marlena Evans and between 2003 and 2004, he masterminds the Salem Stalker murders in which he fakes the deaths of several Salem citizens, himself included, and holds the "victims" captive on an island; the character is written out in 2005, when he was sent to prison. The character returns in 2007 and after several dangerous and sometimes lethal schemes, his true identity is revealed. With his cover blown, André's treachery continues and Stefano disowns him and the character seemingly commits suicide by unplugging his own life support in October 2007. Penghlis would reprise the role in 2015 when André is revealed to be Stefano's biological son. In January 2018, André is killed via blunt force trauma by an unknown person, which was later revealed to be Abigail Deveraux in self-defence. He continued making appearances until October 31, 2019, and in April 2022.
Storylines
1983–1984
In 1983, André is summoned to Salem by his uncle Stefano DiMera having recently undergone plastic surgery to look like Stefano's son Tony. With Tony unwilling to cooperate with his demands, Stefano enlisted the ruthless André to help him run the DiMera Empire. Their first order of business: to rid Salem of Stefano's enemy Roman Brady by framing him for the Salem Slasher murders. Wearing a Roman mask, André kills prostitute Daisy Hawkins in November 1983 in front of Roman's wife Marlena Evans and Sandy Horton leading to the real Roman's arrest. In 1984, Tony's ex-wife Anna discovers Tony chained up in his own penthouse and André locks her away with him as he is revealed to be behind the murders. Roman rescues them and Tony confronts his cousin André only for him to escape to Stefano's island. André's other victims include Stefano's daughter Renée DuMonde, Nurse Kelly Harper, Marlena's cousin Trista Evans, and Letitia Bradford. During his time posing as Tony, André also goes after Gwen Davies, Police officer Joan Hopkins, and Hope Williams – all of whom managed to survive. With Stefano dying from a brain tumor, he and André set out to obtain the three prisms that hold the key to keeping Stefano alive and they plan to get revenge on their enemies in the process. In November 1984, André hijacks a plane on its way to Haiti and it crashes on a deserted island killing Tony's mother Daphne. During a confrontation with Tony, André falls into a patch of quicksand and is presumed dead.1993–1996
In 1993, "Tony" is reintroduced as the fiancé of Stefano's adopted daughter Kristen DiMera. "Tony" and Kristen agree to grant their father his dying wish to see them marry before he dies despite her love for John Black. However, on the wedding day, Kristen leaves "Tony" at the altar to help John and Marlena find their daughter Belle. In the meantime, "Tony" befriends Billie Reed and helps her regain control of her cosmetics company Countess Wilhelmina when he buys 49% of Titan Industries. "Tony" and Kristen are about to marry again when John interrupts the ceremony claiming to have evidence linking Stefano to the murder of Billie's father Curtis. As Stefano tries to escape, John shoots at his car and it goes off the road. Blaming John for Stefano's death, Kristen marries "Tony" on February 18, 1994. "Tony" later discovers that Stefano is alive but keeps quiet fearing Kristen will leave him. In late 1994, during a charity event at Stefano's New Orleans estate Maison Blanche, a fire breaks out and "Tony" is shocked to discover John and Marlena have been imprisoned there; Stefano is also revealed to be alive. "Tony" rushes back into the mansion to retrieve Stefano's computer which contains information about John's mysterious past and is left blind as the mansion explodes. Having learned of her husband's deception and attempts to get her pregnant by switching her birth control pills, Kristen leaves "Tony" for John. A devastated "Tony" plots to kill John only for Kristen to return to him when she learns John is a priest. "Tony" abandons his plans and eventually regains his eyesight but hides that fact hoping to catch Kristen and John in bed together. When Kristen abandons him again for John who has been relieved of his priestly vows, "Tony" discovers he has a fatal blood disease and with only a short time to live, he plots to frame John for his murder. "Tony" details his entire plan in a diary and also confides in Father Francis who plans to tell John. However, "Tony" steals his blood pressure medication which leads to Father Francis suffering a heart attack that renders him comatose. As "Tony" attends the wedding of his adopted brother Peter Blake and Jennifer Horton, he manipulates John into threatening to kill him in public. "Tony" then shoots himself, and frames John. John is nearly sentenced to death until Kristen and Peter's mother Rachel presents the diary clearing John's name.2002–2007
"Tony" makes a shocking return from the dead in the summer of 2002 when he crashes John and Marlena's anniversary celebration, having survived getting shot and still suffering his blood disease—which turns out to be a lie that Stefano convinced him. Having become obsessed with Marlena, "Tony" is ecstatic to discover that twins Rex and Cassie are his children with Marlena and uses them to ingratiate himself to her. "Tony" and John are later shocked when they are led to believe that they are half brothers, through Daphne. Despite the familial revelation, they can never trust each other. "Tony" is later devastated to learn that he is not the twins father after all, and is furious with Stefano for keeping the truth from him. In 2003, "Tony" becomes the prime suspect in the Salem Stalker murders but Mickey Horton agrees to defend him. As he plans to reveal the killer during the Horton Circus, "Tony" is attacked by a tiger and becomes the next victim of the killer—who turns out to be Marlena. "Tony" and the other victims are eventually revealed to be alive and being held captive on the island of Melaswen. "Tony" later reveals himself as the mastermind behind it all looking for revenge on everyone that has wronged him—specifically John for stealing Kristen from him. "Tony" fakes his death again after a confrontation with John only to continue to wreak havoc from the beyond the grave as he causes an explosion that nearly kills some of the captives as they try to escape the island. He even recaptures some of them and holds them prisoner in Europe at the DiMera Castle. "Tony" assists Sami Brady in her schemes to punish her enemies and satisfy his own thirst for revenge. Sami gets John hooked on painkillers only to have a change of heart when "Tony" takes some of her loved ones hostage. He tries to blackmail her into breaking him out of jail, but she refuses.Using his wealth and power, "Tony" secures his release to take care of Stefano who is dying. To save his father, "Tony" kidnaps a comatose John and steals his kidney. However, when Stefano doesn't recover, "Tony" on Stefano's orders goes after Sami's unborn child fathered by Stefano's other son EJ Wells. EJ foils their plans and kidnaps Stefano in exchange for "Tony" agreeing to end the feud between the Brady and DiMera families. Stefano reluctantly agrees to end the feud but "Tony" has other plans. However, it isn't until "Tony" fakes his half sister Lexie 's death and tries to kill Bo and Hope when they rescue her that Stefano realizes he has created a monster. Though he claims innocence in public, in private he places blame on the presumably deceased André. Anna soon returns and she quickly realizes something not right with her ex-husband. On Anna's hunch, Bo confronts him and André finally reveals himself. During a scuffle, Bo forces André to reveal Tony's whereabouts and just before he falls of a roof and ends up in the hospital where he escapes having faked his injuries. Despite his relationship with Stefano falling apart, André continues terrorizing the Bradys and Tony. Stefano disowns André when he takes the lives of Stefano's longtime henchman Bart, and Stefano's son, Benjy Hawk. Hoping to get back into Stefano's good graces, André comes to rescue Stefano who is being held captive by Steve Johnson and takes Hope captive in the process. André refuses to release Hope forcing Bo to shoot him leading to André falling off the roof again—this time he is badly injured. Shawn Brady saw a chance to end André's reign of terror by turning off his life support but couldn't bring himself to do it. However, André witnessed Shawn's struggle and turned off the machines himself hoping Shawn would be blamed for his death. While Shawn is cleared, prior to his death André had put a hit out on John. Just days after André's apparent death, John is struck and hit by a speeding car. However, Stefano revives John and tries to mold him into André's image, attempting to create the perfect soldier.