Dante (Devil May Cry)

Dante is a fictional character that is the main protagonist of the video game franchise Devil May Cry. He is the offspring of a human mother and devil father. It is common in fantasy-literature for half-breeds (creatures only half-human) to have special abilities, and Dante is no exception. Dante has epic powers and heroic stamina due to his father's blood; he also boasts a rather large ego and a penchant for insulting his opponents. His appearance is attributed to his human side.

Origin

Dante's past is fragmented, and broken down among the games in the DMC series. In the early age of humans, they worshipped evil and darkness. Humans became demonically possessed, and labored to create a demonic tower to link themselves to the unholy Demon World. This tower was called Temen-Ni-Gru. One demon, named Sparda, was against this. Sparda fought a valiant one-man war against the forces of the unholy realm, and the demons known as 'gatekeepers'. These gatekeepers were, in order, Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, Nevan and Beowulf. Beowulf also holds a violent grudge against Sparda, for his left eye was taken in the battle. Sparda also defeated Mundus' servants Phantom and Griffon, and also the demon king Argosax the Chaos. Upon defeating Mundus, the Emperor of Demons, he traveled to the depths of Temen-Ni-Gru and let his blood flow along with a human priestess and sealed himself and the Demon World away. The Force Edge is the very sword he used to save the human world. Before his sacrifice, he sires the twins, Dante and Vergil. Afterwards, Dante and Vergil split at one point (though they meet again in DMC3 as enemies). They were apparently close during childhood, as fragments of DMC3 reflect this. Eva is murdered at some point by demons, most likely in Dante's and Vergil's late childhood. This in turn contributes to Dante's decision to make devil hunting his life's work.

In the Devil May Cry novel, Dante is portrayed as a mercenary who calls himself Tony Redgrave. Throughout the course of the novel, it is revealed that he gave up his true name under his mother's orders as she died. He takes back the name Dante after the death of the gunsmith who made him Ebony and Ivory. The novel's antagonist, a bandage-wrapped man named Gilver, is revealed to be Vergil, Dante's brother. As of the end of the Devil May Cry novel, Dante believes Vergil to be dead. Because the novel was written before Devil May Cry 3 was released, some parts of the novel don't fit in with the video game manga.

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.

Arsenal and powers

Dante has many default powers due to Sparda's blood. He has been impaled by his own weapon by accident or by an enemy weapon, only to pull that weapon out and use it to his advantage. Dante can also jump from tall buildings head first, only to flip around in mid-air and land on his feet, walking away like nothing has happened. He can even endure being shot through his head and through his abdomen multiple times as evidenced by Lady in DMC3.

The director of Devil May Cry 3 confirmed in an interview that Dante is 19 in the game. Meaning he's roughly 18 in the manga, which is the year before the game proper. A likely explanation of Dante's skill and mastery of different arms/hand to hand combat may be that, being part devil, he's more natural at it than a regular human. Thus, he doesn't require the numerous years of training to perfect the skills.

In DMC3, Dante and Vergil appear considerably younger than they do in DMC1. The manga claims Sparda became mortal and lived for 2,000 years before he died. But many believe he had Dante and Vergil not long after his rebellion. In regards to his death, Sparda had most likely died a few months or a year before Eva, since demons are the culprits for her demise. He had probably protected his family from demonic forces, and either died from possible injuries or some illness that has yet to be revealed. Both boys were only 10 when their mother died, meaning at least 8 years before the manga and one more year before DMC3.

Of course, immortality could be considered by some to be a demonic power itself. Vergil disappeared and Eva (their mother) was killed about 20 years before the beginning of DMC1 (as stated by Trish in the beginning of DMC1). This would mean it could have been 20 years since Dante witnessed Vergil descending into the abyss of Hell at the end of DMC3. If there has been a 20 year jump forwards in time, the twins have aged only a few years over the 20 that have passed, supporting the immortality or longevity side of the argument. A possibility is that after reaching early adult age, Dante's appearance would only age slightly. Dante would have to likely be pushing 60 or 70 before he really shows any serious aging. Then again, in most folklore and myths, half-demons could retain a youthful look for centuries (InuYasha is supposedly 150, meaning he's appeared to be only 16-17 for nearly 70 years.)

However, Eva died long before this, when the twins were ten years old. Due to the fact that the DMC3 manga provides us with the insight that both twins thought that the other was dead until the manga events, it throws a major monkey wrench into Trish's statement. Dante would have known that Vergil didn't die along with Eva by the beginning of DMC1.

Of course, all of the above is pure speculation and guesswork, due to the fact that the Sparda family tree is still very much in shadow. This is due to the facts that the time Sparda and Eva died is unknown and that their seems to be holes in the timeline, if there even is an official one.

Nonetheless, the biggest aspect of Dante's power, of course, is his Devil Trigger (DT). As Dante takes and deals damage, a meter represented by runes (starting with three, maxing at ten) begins to fill up. After three or more runes are lit up, Dante can transform into a more powerful version of himself. Normally, this is characterized by a red aura that surrounds him. However, this transformation can be furthered in its appearance by the use of various magical items. An example is the Alastor sword, where Dante's aura becomes blue-violet. While Devil Triggered, Dante can assume a far less human appearance; his clothes disappear, his skin turns black and he gains demonic aspects of the magical equipment he is wielding. His transformation can be taken one step further (at the end of the first game and at periods of desperation in the second), allowing him to transform into a form similar to that of his father: a full-fledged demon. Also Dante can lift up to 10 tons and has agility and senses far more advanced than any human or demon. His sword can also cut through anything from the human plane.

Devil May Cry weapons

Dante also uses a wide variety of weapons. In DMC1, he starts with Force Edge (essentially a claymore) and Ebony & Ivory (two handguns, pictured). He acquires several other Devil Arms (magical melee weapons) and firearms, including Alastor (enchanted sword of lightning), Ifrit (enchanted fire gauntlets). These two weapons are actually enchanted, being that they have a will of their own, if not overpowered by the wielder. Other weapons include Sparda (his father's sword; created by merging Force Edge with the Perfect Amulet), a shotgun, grenade launcher, needle gun (for use underwater) and a demon gun, named Nightmare-β.

Devil May Cry 2 weapons

The melee weapons at Dante's disposal come in form of three different swords. The default blade, called Rebellion, has a balance between its speed, power, and reach. The second sword Dante encounters is the powerful Vendetta blade, which has a short reach and slow speed. The last sword he encounters is the Merciless, a blade that has a slightly longer reach than the Rebellion or the Vendetta. In terms of firearms, Dante's Ebony and Ivory return as a default weapon with some improvements over the first game, such as being able to shoot multiple targets at once. Dante can also come across dual submachine guns used in the same manner as Ebony and Ivory, but with a much faster rate of fire. The game also features a powerful, but slow recoil Shotgun, as well as a devastating Rocket Launcher that is expectedly slow and cumbersome.

Devil May Cry 3 weapons

Dante's arsenal for DMC3 contains a number of new weapons, which all have independently designed devil triggers like in the first game.

Dante's primary sword is: Rebellion - A keepsake sword and a gift from his father. Although at the beginning of the game its powers are dormant, contact with Dante's blood revives them and turns it into a fearsome blade, with even more fearsome abilities.

His other weapons include: The Cerberus - An ice-elemental sansetsukon (a nunchaku with three rods) created from the soul of the demonic hound Cerberus itself. It was blessed and bestowed upon Dante after defeating and impressing Cerberus. It wields the power of ice, and has abilities such as creating giant ice shards.

Agni & Rudra - A pair of serrated scimitars which contain the elemental powers of fire and wind. Agni and Rudra are somewhat odd because they are both sentient and capable of speech (although Dante shuts them up quickly due to their garrolousness and their mostly pointless banters), and their pommels are actually their heads. Upon meeting the brothers, Dante quickly becomes annoyed with their constant jabbering, and gets to the point. He makes it clear he wants to go past the door they guard, and they become serious. After defeating the twins, their headless bodies disappear and he is begged to take the swords on which their heads rest with him. He agrees, on the condition that they stop talking.

Nevan - a truly bizarre weapon, is the imprisoned soul of the succubus who bears its name, in the form of a demonic rock guitar. Evidently, she knew Dante's father. The Nevan attacks with a scythe blade, and when played, it creates bolts of lightning and summons swarms of electrically charged demonic bats. When he met Nevan, he was enticed with her shirtless body. She fought him with powerful blasts of electricity, but the Rebellion prevailed. She was defeated, and tried to trick him with a seemingly harmless kiss, but Dante was not to be fooled. She bestowed her soul upon him, in the form of the Nevan guitar.

The final Devil Arm is: Beowulf - which is a pair of light-elemental gauntlets and greaves. They contain the soul of the demon guardian Beowulf, a truly fearsome beast whom Sparda battled and imprisoned in the tower. Although Beowulf flees from Dante after losing his one remaining eye by Dante's Rebellion, he promises to return and slay him. He does return and attack a son of Sparda, but it was Vergil, not Dante. He does not realize this until it is too late. Beowulf is then brutally, and quickly slaughtered. Vergil gains the power over light of these gauntlets and greaves, but after his fall into an abyss, Dante picks them up, and utilizes their power. They are mainly used for devastating martial art combos.

Dante's firearms are:

Ebony & Ivory, his old trusty handguns.

A Double-Barreled Shotgun.

Artemis, a demonic crossbow-like weapon which resembles Nightmare Beta in both appearance and attacks, but differs in the fact that it does not consume Devil Trigger, it can target multiple enemies.

Spiral, a large anti-tank penetration rifle

Kalina Ann, a rocket launcher equipped with a grappling hook, belonging to the demon huntress Lady, taking its name from Lady's deceased mother.

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 videogame icon:

Viewtiful Joe

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.

Nocturne

Dante appears initially as an antagonist, but can later be recruited to your party. See Delf's GameFAQs guide for more details on Dante's appearance in this game.

Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble (PSP version only)

Dante is a playable character exclusive to the PSP version of the game.

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.
Dante appeared in Jedah's ending in Capcom Fighting Evolution, walking up behind him with a gun drawn.

SNK VS Capcom Card Figther DS

Dante is one of the new cards on Card Fighters DS. ^*

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.

External links