Danielle "Dani" Anastasia Baptiste[1] is a fictional, comic book superheroine in the series Witchblade, published by Top Cow.

The series' story arc then shows the character losing the gauntlet to its original host, but later taking hold of the Angelus, one of the two primal forces of the universe.

[2] Dani instantly recognized the Witchblade as the mysterious entity in her dreams and impulsively decided to accept it from Sara, who was focused upon motherhood rather than the adventures that accompany the gauntlet.

[volume & issue needed] While Dani was enjoying an evening out in New Orleans, she was harassed by three young men and punished them by drawing them into a dark alley and unleashing the Witchblade, almost choking one of them to death.

They begged Dani to help set them free and explained that the ancient and mystical Madeline Desormeaux, who lived in a large mansion on the edge of the graveyard, had tortured them in life and had bound them to the land in death.

She promised to stay by his side for a few weeks to help his recovery and then return to New York, resolving to get rid of the Witchblade after her ghostly encounter.

[volume & issue needed] Dani later discovered more about her powers (including the ability of flight) while helping the Magdalena and Jackie Estacado, the host of the Darkness, defend a pregnant Sara.

[5] Later, Madame Kostigian, Dani's dance teacher, asked her to take over introductory classes while she returned to Poland to be with her sister, who had cancer.

Unlike previous hosts, Dani retained her personality and was able to stop the Angelus from killing Sara, using her newfound powers of Light to free her friend from the taint of the Darkness.

[7] After the recreation of the universe, Dani is now a police detective in the Special Cases division and serves as Patrick Gleason's partner.

[volume & issue needed] Dani once wielded the powers of the Angelus, a universal force of order and creation, the equal and opposite of the Darkness.

She was able to craft beam-like weapons of light, project light-beams, burn objects and people with her touch, and create a semi-organic armor about herself which increased her durability to near-invulnerability.