Dante (Devil May Cry)
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| Dante | |
|---|---|
 Dante in Devil May Cry 4. |
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| Game series | Devil May Cry series |
| Creator(s) | Shinji Mikami |
| Voice actor(s) | Drew Coombs (Devil May Cry) Matthew Kaminsky (Devil May Cry 2) |
| Motion capture actor | Reuben Langdon(Devil May Cry 3) |
| In-Universe Information | |
| Occupation | Mercenary |
| Relatives | Vergil (brother); Sparda (father); Eva (Mother) |
Dante is a fictional character that is the main protagonist of the video game franchise Devil May Cry. He is the son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda and a mortal woman called Eva. Half human and half demon, Dante possesses amazing powers and superhuman abilities. He hates demons, as he blames them for taking his mother and brother from him when he was only a child, and makes his living as a mercenary. But Dante won’t just take any “boring” job. He specialises exclusively in the supernatural and the occult, specifically, hunting and killing demons. Dante is a demon slayer.
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[edit] Philosophy and speculation
One may notice that Dante and Vergil share their names with Dante Alighieri and Publius Vergilius Maro, poets of epic works. In Dante Alighieri's work The Divine Comedy, Dante (the author) is guided through Hell and Purgatory by Virgil (the Roman poet), and Heaven by Beatrice Portinari, Dante's idealistic vision of the perfect woman. Dante and Vergil share a likeness to the characters in the poem; Vergil as Nelo Angelo continuously confronts Dante as he delves further into Mundus' castle (Hell), egging him on and drawing him closer to Mundus himself. Trish could be seen as a parallel to Beatrice, his savior that helps him finally defeat Mundus and escape the castle. Mundus is possibly a distant reference to Satan, trapped at the center of his castle, and some of the enemies and areas in the game could be seen as metaphors for the concentric circles of hell and their populaces described in Alighieri's work.
[edit] Origin
Dante is one of the twin sons of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda. After Sparda's death, Dante and Vergil were raised by their mother, Eva. Both received half of an amulet on one of their birthdays. Dante was very close to Eva, and Vergil apparently was jealous of their relationship and felt she loved Dante more than him. Then when Dante and Vergil were around 8, demons attacked their house. Eva told Dante to hide, and from his hiding spot, he saw his mother brutally murdered. The demons then reported everyone dead and when they left, Dante thought both Eva and Vergil had been killed. Vergil's real whereabouts during the attack are currently unknown, although in the Devil May Cry 3 manga, it is shown that he fought off several demons with his Devil Trigger. The next 10 years of Dante's life are as yet completely unexplained. It is unknown where he was, how he survived, if he went to school, and who, if anyone, raised him. The next known chapter of Dante's story is the DMC3 manga.
[edit] Devil May Cry 3
The DMC3 director, Hideaki Itsuno, confirmed in an interview that Dante was 19 in DMC3. (The manga takes place a year prior to DMC3, so Dante is 18 in the manga.)
At first glance, DMC3 Dante may appear light hearted, optimistic, cheerful and free-spirited, but in reality Eva's death deeply affected Dante. After her death, he became disillusioned and detached, having no purpose in life, no real drive or goals, and he doesn’t really care about anything. Instead, Dante lives a hedonistic lifestyle; he is a thrill seeker, living for crude pleasures, cheap thrills and the adrenaline of battle. All he really has left is his deep hatred for demons and the demonic, the things that he sees as taking his family from him. Being half demon himself, Dante's heart is heavy with self-loathing, he despises his demon side, the darkness always within him. He is ashamed and disgusted that it is part of him, and in the manga he clearly hates to access it. Dante doesn’t even defend himself against the torrent of insults Lady throws at him during DMC3. He is reckless and unpredictable, bordering either on being extremely selfless or dangerously suicidal. Enzo comments sometimes he thinks Dante has a deathwish. Dante also harbours a hatred or dislike for his father (it has been theorized that he blames his father for not being there to protect them when they needed him most, or because it is Sparda's blood that makes him what he is. Dante may also believe that it was Sparda's legacy eventually caused Eva's death. She was killed as revenge for some action of Sparda, making it his fault.) and hates that he consistently finds himself “cleaning up his father's mess” and getting the blame for his father's actions from various demons that he meets. He wants to get out from under his father's shadow and stop being associated with him by every monster he meets and kills.
At the start of the DMC3 manga, Dante is already living in his new unnamed office, (which he apparently got on the cheap due to Enzo) and is working as a mercenary for hire, with Enzo as his manager. However, Dante hasn’t had work in a long time, as he keeps turning down all the “boring” jobs. (much to Enzo's frustration) In fact he hasn’t even left his office in days, and is basically living in squalor, eating pizza and drinking tomato juice. But he begins to realise he is running low on cash and food, and eventually the threat of losing his new place spurs him into action again, and Dante reluctantly accepts a missing persons case. The job isn’t so boring after all however and the resulting events lead him to learn that not only is his brother Vergil is still alive, but that he is planning to resurrect the Temen-Ni-Gru and use it to again open the gates of Hell.
By DMC3, a year later, Vergil's plans come to fruition and the Temen-Ni-Gru, the tower of fear, raises from the earth, right in the middle of the city. Vergil lures Dante to the tower, as he requires Dante's part of the amulet to eventually unlock the power he desires. Dante had to defend himself from the demons when they accosted him in his shop, and he suffers the unfortunate event of his shop being destroyed. Dante looks at the Temen-Ni-Gru and gazing up at the tower he goes to face his brother. Because at first Dante didn't care about the larger scheme of things, seemingly just goes seeing it as a game, and because he just doesn’t like Vergil all that much, he battles his way through the tower until he meets a girl called Mary. (or “Lady”, as Dante calls her after she says tells him she has no name.) She is there to settle her own family matter by killing Arkham, her father, because in order to gain demonic power he sacrificed his own wife, i.e her mother. Dante's experiences in the tower and with Lady changes Dante's outlook. He tells her that it’s because of her that he now knows what is important and what he must do. Dante has a purpose in his life again, and he actually cares about something. He heads into the demon world to stop his brother. However, after Dante defeats him, Vergil will not return to with him to the human world, and instead casts himself into the depths of the demon world, disappearing into the darkness below. After Dante and Lady escape, Dante is seen to shed a tear for his lost brother. Lady remarks that perhaps even a devil may cry when they lose a loved one.
After DMC3, Dante has seemingly come to terms with what and who he is (generally interpreted as him realising that just because he is part demon, doesn’t make him evil himself, the same way humans are not all good just because they are human.) It has been theorised by some that he has even forgiven his father, having been in his place, fighting for the human world, he identifies more with him, and understands him much more. (This is only speculation based on character development witnessed however) He continues his demon hunting business, only this time he actually cares about what he is doing; he has purpose, and finally picks a name for his place, calling it “Devil May Cry.”
[edit] Devil May Cry 1
Trish remarks in DMC1 that demons took Dantes mother and brother from him 20 years before. DMC1s referencing is based on a previous version of the canon, so things said must sometimes be interpreted figuratively if the story is to gel together. Here, it could easily be assumed that she is referring to the attack that killed Eva, as Vergil was figuratively lost to Dante from then on, and because he was officially considered dead after the attack for a long time. Devil May Cry contradicts itself here, because it's confirmed that in Devil May Cry 1, Dante is 29 and in DMC3, he is 19. If you go from what the characters say, it's something like this, 20 years ago was the attack, 10 years later the manga, 1 year later DMC3, so DMC1 is set 10 years after DMC3 (if you go after what Trish say), Dante is around 29 in DMC1. Lady is nowhere to be found, so it can be assumed that she and Dante parted ways long before the events of DMC1 began, although on what terms (good or bad) it cannot be confirmed. Given that the concept of Lady's character most likely did not exist when DMC1 was being planned, nothing can be confirmed for now.
DMC1 Dante is considerably more mature now, and is a lot more experienced. He has been working as a mercenary, hunting demons, for nearly 10 years since DMC3, evidenced by a wall of trophies taken from his various kills. But he still retains his cocky, fearless attitude and his penchant for constantly mouthing off and insulting his enemies during battle. He also retains his deep hatred of demons, blaming them for stealing his mother and brother, and is hoping that as he continues his business, killing every last one he comes across, eventually he will hit the jackpot and finally have his revenge on the demon responsible for his mothers death. Various sources also indicate DMC1's Dante has quite a dark edge to him, although it is not really seen much in the game, and most are from now uncanonical sources, but it does show how Capcom seemed to interpret Dantes personality around the time of DMC1. It’s also worthy of note that by this time Dante has started using a password system with perspective clients. When he gets a call he asks them for the password, if they have it, that means they have gone through the right channels, and know exactly the kind of jobs Dante takes.
In DMC1, Dante is hired by Trish (a mysterious woman who looks nearly exactly like Eva did) to stop the resurrection of the demon emperor, Mundus. She was in fact created by Mundus and sent to lure him there. While on the island Dante is reunited with his brother, who is now under the control of Mundus and in the form of the dark knight Nelo Angelo. Trish eventually betrays Mundus to save Dante, and once Dante defeats Mundus, he and Trish escape the island together. Partly to comfort Trish and partly as a new opinion of Dante’s on the difference between devils and good, he renames his business “Devils Never Cry”, as true devils, true evil, cannot show emotions as Trish or even he does. Trish and Dante become partners in the demon slaying business from then on.
[edit] Devil May Cry 2
DMC2 is set an unknown time after DMC1, so Dante’s age in it is unknown. The official DMC2 strategy guide says that it is set a “few” years after DMC1, but it is unknown if that is canonical, and even it was, it remains rather vague.
In DMC2 Dante is very different to the lively cocky demon hunter we know in the other games. He is much more reserved, and he barely talks. He still cracks the occasional dry joke/comment, but only rarely, and they are arguably less humorous than those from the previous games. DMC2 Dante is all business and is very serious. He has also started carrying around and occasionally flipping a coin, which on close inspection has Trish's silhouette from the DMC1 logo on it. Dantes sudden and unexplained change in personality is theorised to be a reaction to some traumatic and horrific event that deeply affected Dante between DMC1 and 2, (to which the coin, and Trish's absence in the main storyline, perhaps bears relevance) but this has not been acknowledged by Capcom. Another point worthy of mention is that Dante has stopped using devil arms (except for the awakened Rebellion). The possible storyline relevance of this is also not explored right now.
At the end of DMC2 Dante must go into the demon world to stop the demon Argosax from escaping, but the gate closes behind him and he is trapped. With no way back to the human world, Dante heads even deeper into the demon world on his motorcycle. There is also an extra scene after the credits, which features Lucia sitting in Dantes office. She is thinking of Dante, when she hears a motorcycle outside and excitedly rushes to see who it is. It is therefore left vaguely open whether Dante remains trapped in the demon world or not.
[edit] Devil May Cry 4
In Devil May Cry 4, Dante is not the main character, although he will be playable. Dante is the antagonist in the eyes of new character Nero, as Nero's organization is trying to undo the seal of Sparda. Dante appears older with stubble.
While Dante is viewed as evil by Nero, Dante still follows his path of tracking down the devil(s) that killed his mother and enslaved his brother. In one of the trailers released, Dante is depicted literally crashing into a meeting of the Kyōdan Kishi (Order of Knights) and killing their leader. This leads to a confrontation between Dante and Nero.
[edit] Powers
Most of Dante’s powers are not fully explored in the games, and the true extent of each power is generally unknown. Dante is naturally gifted with superhuman strength and speed, and he has incredible endurance stemming from his uncanny regeneration ability. Dante's wounds heal almost instantly. In fact, his flesh begins to seal as soon as it is cleaved, making it nearly impossible to dismember him. He has demonstrated this ability on several occasions. For example, when his hand had been pierced by a sword, Dante was able to pull and twist his hand around until he was holding the sword's blade, without losing any fingers. Dante's brother Vergil, who possesses the same ability, was clearly sliced in half in their final battle, and yet managed to remain whole. Dante has survived gunshots to the head and stomach, multiple stab wounds from scythe blades, being smashed into the ground by a heavy demon, being impaled by a sword (on more than one occasion), and various other acts of grievous bodily harm that would have been fatal to a human. However, Dante's ability to regenerate does not mean that he is totally invincible. He can be worn down by continuous attacks, and when he is tired and/or consistently/badly wounded, his ability to regenerate slows down significantly, leaving him easily susceptible to damage (for example, after his lengthy, tiring battle with Vergil, a single stab wound was enough to floor him). If he is exhausted and beaten, Dante can be killed by virtually anything that is fatal to a normal human.
In addition to his natural abilities, Dante has a plethora of combat skills and techniques; so many in fact that in DMC3 his move list had to be divided into specific "styles" due to RAM issues and the difficulty of putting everything into a single controller (could also be a representation of Dante still learning and developing his various skills). He is apparently an accomplished martial artist, as he shows several impressive hand-to-hand attacks during the opening cutscene that can be attributed to various fighting styles. His great, sometimes excessive acrobatic abilities and Trickster style could be a form of ninjutsu. His Royal Guard stance and the philosophy behind it (redirection of energy, using the enemy's attacks against them) is likely a demonic adaptation of the Aikido style of martial arts. Most significantly, when fighting with Beowulf's Gauntlets and Greaves, Dante's stance and techniques seem to be a personalized Jeet Kune Do fighting system, with influences from western boxing in the straight punches and uppercuts, while the ax and side kicks appear to be Taekwondo. Vergil uses an identical stance and shares some of Dante's moves when equipping Beowulf, and seems eager to fight Dante with the gauntlets only a few minutes after acquiring them; thus, one can hypothesize that if Dante was taught Jeet Kune Do, it was done so alongside his older brother, who modified his own style with a emphasis on aerial kicks rather than Dante's preference for punches.
Aside from hand to hand combat, Dante is incredibly skilled with a variety of melee weapons such as the broadsword, katana, nunchaku, and dual scimitars, among many others. It is unknown if Dante actually received traditional training on these weapons, in which case his superhuman abilities and natural knack for battle would have allowed him to master each one at a much faster rate than normal; or if his demon lineage can somehow allow Dante to instantly master any weapon he comes across and use it to its full extent with no prior experience. Either way, Dante does indeed have a very unique and adaptive fighting style, and he often makes use of his powers and skills in very inventive ways. This is evident in DMC3, were he seemed to enjoy playing around with his abilities, and using them in totally over the top, sometimes even silly, ways. The special moves associated with each weapon, however, are not Dante's, but that of his equipment. Dante uses “devil arms”, weapons that either were once demons themselves, are charged with demonic powers, or contain a demon. Dante had to earn these, either by defeating the demon, or enduring a test, as generally in order to use a devil arm, you must first prove yourself worthy to the demonic presence in the weapon. Dante's demonic blood means that he can not only wield these weapons, but he can also access and channel their powers. When using them, he can be granted a selection of new skills.
Unlike his more traditionalist brother Vergil, Dante has a distinct affinity for firearms, particularly those with a high rate of fire or a satisfyingly loud report (has used a sawn-off shotgun, a bazooka, and an anti-tank rifle, etc.). In fact, the only weapons he has been seen to use in all his game appearances are his handguns Ebony and Ivory. Dante never appears in gameplay or cutscenes to need to reload any firearm he uses, though this has not been explained within any official materials.
Dante's signature power is, most likely, his ability to assume a demonic form (called a "devil trigger," or DT). When Dante activates his Devil Trigger, he is considerably more powerful. He is stronger and faster, takes much less damage, and even recovers lost health. Dante usually requires a devil arm to DT, channeling the demonic essence in the weapon through him using his demonic blood. This means that depending on the weapon he is using, the DT will look different, and have different powers, reflective of the devil arm itself. However by DMC2, Dante has obtained a "universal" DT, and can access it without the use of devil arms. This has yet to be fully explained, although it could be assumed that this form is Dante's own DT, since it does not depend on outside influence such as a devil arm (although its abilities can be enhanced and/or altered with magical amulets). Dante can only stay in this form for a short time, as it costs him considerable demonic power, and is rather draining. Also in DMC2, Dante has what appears to be a "desperation devil trigger". When his health is dangerously low, Dante is able to assume a new demon form which closely resembles that of his father Sparda. This form is ridiculously powerful, but extremely short-lived. When Dante's DT gauge empties, he returns to normal. Dante demonstrated the ability to assume this form in the final battle of DMC1 (although at that time he required the aid of the Sparda sword) as well.
[edit] Ebony and Ivory
Ebony and Ivory are Dante’s set of matched pistols which he has used in each of his game appearances. They are the only weapons to do so, as he has been depicted with three different swords as his default in different games (Force Edge in DMC1, Rebellion in DMC2, 3 and 4 and Shin Megamei Tensei: Nocturne, and Alastor in the PS2 and PSP releases of the Viewtiful Joe games).
Ebony and Ivory resemble oversized and heavily customized Colt M1911s, with images of women embossed on their handgrips. As befits their names, Ebony is primarily black, while Ivory is primarily white. The materials ebony and ivory were traditionally used to make the keys of instruments like the piano, and are still the nicknames for black keys (sharps) and white keys (naturals). On the side of the guns is an inscription: "For Tony Redgrave -- By .45 Art Warks". In the first "Devil May Cry" novel, in which Dante went by the name Tony Redgrave for much of the story, the guns' genius maker was also known to be a horrible speller. Tony Redgrave had originally been Dante's name during the game's early production phase.
Their most notable features in gameplay are their infinite ammunition and potentially high rate of fire. Dante never has to reload these or other firearms, and can continue to fire as long as the player keeps tapping the fire button. The reason for this ability of Dante’s is never explicitly stated in the games, although another gun-wielding character, Lady in DMC3, is shown needing to reload during cutscenes.
Ebony and Ivory’s high rate of fire is what allows Dante to perform his signature attack called "high time", which debuted in the first game. In this attack, Dante first swats an enemy into the air with a sword or similar weapon, then keeps the target suspended in mid-air with a steady stream of bullets from Ebony and Ivory.
Ebony and Ivory don't typically do a great deal of damage to Dante's enemies, but are useful for keeping an attack combo going -- such as when the enemy is not in range of Dante's melee weapons – which helps to keep the style meter ranking from falling.
If the player selects the "Legendary Dark Knight" costume in the first game, the guns are renamed Luce (Light) and Ombra (Shadow). These guns are also used by Trish in Devil May Cry 2. All their gameplay attributes remain the same.
[edit] Interests and hobbies
In both DMC3 and DMC1, Dante's office is filled with a selection of vintage memorabilia and collectables. The list includes a motorcycle, a wall of guns and other weapons, a juke box, pool table, guitar, trophy wall and drum kit. We never actually see him use these things, so whether he does, is any good at them, or he simply has them as decoration, is unknown. Although, when he receives the guitar based weapon Nevan, he instantly breaks into an extreme guitar solo (this may mean nothing, as Dante always seems to master any weapon he picks up pretty much instantly - see the powers section for expansion on this idea). In DMC1 Dante also has an entire wall devoted to demon hunting trophies, which may be there either to show off, or there to impress clients/scare demons, or it could be a reflection of how much he hates demons. But it again is an example of Dante's collecting of something. It is also known Dante is a fan of rock music, and particularly likes songs of the style in the game's soundtrack.
[edit] Guest appearances
Dante is the lead character of the Devil May Cry series of games but has guested in other games as well, cementing his status as a video game icon:
[edit] Viewtiful Joe (PS2 version only)
Dante is available for selection once the game has been cleared on any difficulty. Dante uses sword attacks instead of martial arts moves, and is able to use his handguns to attack distant enemies.
- It may also be noted that, in his appearance in Viewtiful Joe, Dante appears at one point in his skivvies, at which point Trish asks if "Enzo" stole his gear again. "Enzo" refers to Enzo Ferrino, a mercenary who appears in the handbook to the original Devil May Cry, who has paid to give information about Dante. Enzo Ferrino also appears in the Devil May Cry 3 Manga.
- In Viewtiful Joe, one of the bosses is Alastor, a devil that occupies one of Dante's swords in DMC1, and who Dante could transform into. Dante accuses Alastor of deserting the sword and causing it to "rust out". Alastor complains that Dante didn't treat him well and then forgot about him, and challenges him to a fight to see who is stronger. After Dante wins, Alastor calls him his master, and Dante promises to be faithful. However, Dante has not used the Alastor sword since. How Alastor left the DMC universe for the Viewtiful Joe universe is not explained.
[edit] Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Dante, in his DMC2 appearance, appears in this game initially as an antagonist to kill the protagonist (a Demi-Fiend, which could be interpretated as Half-Demon, just like Dante) under the orders of an old man who hired him, but when he understand the old man's reasons, decide to let the main character go and gives him a key item. Later, Dante can be recruited to your party and is one of the stronger physical fighters.
See Delf's GameFAQs guide for more details on Dante's appearance in this game.
[edit] Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble (PSP version only)
Dante is a playable character exclusive to the PSP version of the game.
[edit] SNK VS Capcom Card Fighter DS
- Dante is one of the new cards on Snk vs Capcom: Card Fighters DS. [1]
[edit] Capcom Fighting Evolution
- If you finish the game playing as Jedah Dohma, Dante makes a cameo appearance, as he prepares to ruin Jedah's victory.
[edit] Voice actors
In each installment of the DMC series Dante is voiced by different actors, Drew Coombs in DMC1 (and Viewtiful Joe), Matthew Kaminsky in DMC2, and Reuben Langdonin DMC3. It has, as of September 24, 2006, been confirmed that Reuben Langdon will reprise his role as Dante in the upcoming Devil May Cry 4.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Devil May Cry Dante Dante's Devil May Cry 1 Profile
- Dante Site
- Dante fanlisting
![[1]](http://www.snkdatabase.com/Homepage/svc_cards/svc13.jpg){kind=link}