Dante

For the DmC counterpart, see here.

Dante (ダンテ^?) is the primary protagonist of the Devil May Cry series of 3D action games, being the main playable character for the majority of the games. A famous mercenary, demon hunter and private investigator, he is the son of the legendary demon knight Sparda and his human wife Eva, the younger twin brother of Vergil and the uncle of Nero.

Dante is dedicated to exterminating demons, a mission he follows in pursuit of those that killed Eva and corrupted Vergil. As a result of his demonic heritage he possesses numerous superhuman abilities which he uses in combination with a variety of weapons to accomplish his goals. Dante has been featured as the protagonist in the first three games, a playable character in some missions in the fourth game and one of the playable main characters in the fifth game. He also appears in several Devil May Cry novels and manga volumes, and is featured in a 2007 anime series titled Devil May Cry: The Animated Series.

Biography[]

Appearance[]

Ever since Devil May Cry started development as Resident Evil 4, Dante has had white hair. It's remained in a consistent style throughout the series, although there are a few differences between installments.

In Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 4 his hair is somewhat parted with his bangs brushed down; in Devil May Cry 3 his hair is brushed down with his bangs partially covering his eyes, and in Devil May Cry 2 his hair is much thicker, with his bangs parted in front of his right eye.

Dante has worn a myriad of clothing throughout his many appearances, yet his most glaring trait is his affinity for red-colored apparel, often in the form of long, two-tailed coats. In Devil May Cry 3, Dante wears long, tan colored jeans, black fingerless gloves, and military-style boots. His coat has zippers on the sleeves and a buckle around the waist, and two brown, leather holsters on the back to carry Ebony & Ivory. Contrary to later games, Dante does not wear any form of clothing underneath his coat, going shirtless throughout the whole game, displaying his silver half of the Perfect Amulet around his neck, as well as his bare, well-toned chest and muscular physique. Following Dante's first battle with Vergil, his half of the amulet is stolen and the right sleeve of his coat is damaged, with Dante tearing it off afterward. In his final confrontation with Vergil, his left glove is slashed across the palm by Yamato, and the epilogue shows that Dante keeps it on his desk, perhaps in remembrance of his lost brother.

In the original Devil May Cry and the anime series, Dante wears red pants with two black belts wrapped around his right thigh, a black, leather belt, black gloves, and high, black boots. Dante's coat is much basic in design, with an upturned collar and short sleeves with black cuffs, though the coat lacks coattails. Underneath the coat, Dante wears what appears to be a black long-sleeved shirt, with a red vest with black clasps over it. In numerous cutscenes, his half of the Perfect Amulet is once again on display, yet it appears infrequently and is not a permanent feature on his character model.

In Devil May Cry 2, Dante's outfit is reminiscent to the one seen in the first game, but with more pronounced, poignant features. He wears high black boots and red jeans once more, yet has a single belt wrapped around each thigh. A belt featuring a skull themed buckle wraps around his waist, and he wears black, gauntlet shaped gloves with three buckled straps on each one. His coat is a deeper red than in the previous game, with two coattails, yet the coat has a more pronounced buckled collar, and a black strap going over his right shoulder wrapping around his chest, with two golden studs on the front. The front of the coat is also patterned individually from the rest of it, resembling a sort of vest or body armor, with a zipper closed all the way up from the waist to the bottom of Dante's neck, perhaps reflecting his introverted nature seen in the game.

In Devil May Cry 4, Dante's outfit arguably takes on it's most flamboyant look. Dante once more wears red pants, yet they are almost completely covered sans his crotch and rear by long, black leather motorcycle chaps featuring a brown, cowboy boot design around the ankles. He wears black, loafer looking boots, and black gloves exposing his knuckles and index finger on each hand, and his pants are wrapped with a black belt featuring a silver emblem decorated with a demonic skull. The coat is given a much more detailed and stylish look, with Western and Italian features, and a deep red, almost crimson color. Once more the coat is short sleeved, with numerous gold colored studs decorating the shoulders, collar, and chest, and a single zipper on the front, yet Dante is never seen zipping it up in-game. Underneath the coat, Dante wears a black, zipped up undershirt with three clasps closed together with ornate, golden buckles, and medium length sleeves that can be seen passing his shoulders. This undershirt is also zipped up just below his neck and features an upturned collar which complements the one on his coat. Another noticeable design choice separate from Dante's outfit is his chin, covered with short, black stubble, reflecting his older age.

In Devil May Cry 5, Dante's outfit takes on its most simple look. His red jacket is faded, has a washed-out look, a skull on his back and also resembles his Devil May Cry 4 jacket. He wears an ordinary black henley T-shirt with three buttons as the sleeves itself reach through his elbows, where it also features torn details, for his wrists he wears black driving gloves and white bandages. For his legs, he wears a black belt with golden accents, black leather pants and brown boots. His hair and beard also grows after being comatosed for a month. This gives Dante a more grungy look. Dante's black henley T-Shirt also appears dark blue during the daylight when he battles Vergil during their duel and their sparring match in the epilogue. Following his defeat by Urizen, Dante's hair had grown out considerably during his recovery, and is now the same length as it was in Devil May Cry 2. His clothes are also muted in color and dirtier as well.

Alternate costumes[]

Throughout the series, Dante has not always worn only his trademark red leather coat. Other outfits for him can be obtained, as well. After beating the original game on Hard Mode, players can unlock the costume of Dante's own father, Sparda. After clearing the "Dante Must Die" mode, Super Dante is unlocked. Super Dante's health regenerates as long as he is in Devil Trigger mode.

In Devil May Cry 2, there are two extra costumes for him. One is his traditional look from the first game, unlocked by beating "Dante Must Die". The other, Dante in jeans, is unlocked by beating the game on Normal.

In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, beating the game on different difficulties unlocks the following costumes: Easy - Shirtless Dante, Normal - DMC1 Dante, Hard - Sparda and Coatless Dante, and Very Hard - Super Dante and Super Legendary Dark Knight.

Beating "Dante Must Die" in Devil May Cry 4 unlocks Super Dante. Five alternate costumes can be obtained in DmC: Devil May Cry, beating the game on any difficulty unlocks "Original Dante" (meaning his original black hair), clearing "Son Of Sparda" unlocks Dante's coatless look and lastly, "Classic Dante", "Neo Dante" and "Dark Dante" were available as part of a DLC package.

Personality[]

Inheriting Sparda's rebelliousness, Dante is incredibly flippant, casually mouthing off to even the most powerful demons, and he generally enjoys rubbing people the wrong way. He does mature as time goes by, but never really loses his attitude. Dante is sometimes presented as a show off as, on several occasions, he performs exaggerated and over-the-top moves. Dante is seemingly unflappable, not showing fear whether he's being attacked by the Seven Hells in his office or being swallowed by a giant serpentess demon. It is quite rare for Dante to show any seriousness and rage but he can be serious when the situation calls for it, but he still maintains a laid-back demeanor during such situations and is never with out a witty taunt or comeback. He has also proven to be capable of showing a quite fearsome amount of anger when truly pushed. Dante can seem at times to be uncaring or even callous and is certainly fully capable of being ruthless with demons.

However, Dante has inherited his father's good qualities, having a very strong sense of justice and a good heart and prefers to fight fairly. He can be counted on to do the right thing, even if he makes cynical quips about it the entire time. Likewise, despite often complaining on his debts, Dante is quite willing to perform missions solely for the good of them, and rarely enforces payment from poor clients. While he will refuse any quest if he dislikes it, regardless of how much it pays, Dante will immediately take on any paranormal cases, especially those involving demon hunting, with or without pay. Dante's good nature is in fact enough that he has no qualms paying the bills of his clients for property damage and let them off for not paying for his services. Unusually, while he has issues with his own demonic side, Dante has little qualms about accepting demons that choose the side of good, such as Trish. Though Dante is quoted as believing that "humans are often worse than demons" in the anime, he refuses to kill full-blooded humans for any reason.

Dante values family and friends very highly. He cared deeply for his mother and was so devastated by her death that it was the primary reason of his taking up the path of a Devil Hunter. Even years after Eva's death, Dante's love for his mother remains as strong as ever, which was exploited effectively by Mundus, who made Trish a look-like of Eva, causing Dante to strongly desire to protect her. Even after he was betrayed by Trish, Dante still saved her solely as she looked like his mother and this began their partnership, although it initially hindered him, with Dante showing hesitation to engage Mundus when threatened with Trish's death and later crying on how he was not able to make her be more like Eva or even protect her. This is why Dante resents Mundus so much, as Mundus was the one behind the death of his mother. When Mundus mocked that he would create a mother for Dante if that is what he wants, Dante immediately coldly silence him. He also appears to be to some degree haunted by how he could do nothing but hide as his mother is gruesomely killed, as he gets desperate upon saving Trish after remembering how Eva hid him before dying, unknowing it was a trap, and when in a coma state, he is quickly waken up by the nightmare of remembering it in a much more vivid manner. Upon understanding that Vergil believed Eva abandoned him for Dante, Dante is angry at Vergil for believing their mother would choose Dante over him so easily and righteously defended her while explaining how Eva left Vergil while taking him (Dante) to safety to Urizen (Vergil's demon half), trying to make his now fully demonic brother understand that Eva tried to search for Vergil and died for it.

Despite their differences, Dante still cares for his brother considerably. Even after all the fighting the two did over the course of Devil May Cry 3, Dante still tries to save Vergil from falling into the demon world, and goes so far as to cry over losing him. He won't hesitate to fight together with him as they did against Arkham and shares a dynamic flow and coordination, showing they know each other's moves very well and can use it both for and against each other. He seems rather somber upon realizing that Nelo Angelo is Vergil. It was shown that Dante clearly underestimated how much Vergil had changed and wanted to believe that he could be good, as he was unsure at first that Vergil cut off his humanity to acquire more power and when V told him of what Vergil did, Dante's initial calm demeanor shifted to that of rage, releasing his demonic power, as he stated that he would tolerate any lie but using his family as a motivation is something he absolutely won't tolerate, but after learning it is in fact true, Dante is genuinely shocked by how much his brother would go to defeat him and acquire more power, with his feelings being a mixture of lament on how much Vergil had changed and disgust of how low Vergil had sunk and tries to kill him, seeing him as being corrupted beyond salvation. After Vergil is restored, Dante ruthlessly fights his brothers to the death, showing he still feels disgust for what his brother had did, although he retained some of their old fondness as Dante noted on how all their childhood times seemed to base on fighting. Ever since entering the Underworld, Dante seems to have made up with Vergil, as they work together effectively to dispatch monsters and save the world. They also traded banters playfully when fighting.

In addition, he resented his father bitterly for leaving him and not being able to protect Eva but Dante was able to overcome this and acquire genuine respect for Sparda, as shown by how while he at first bitterly said that he does not have a father when Vergil asked Dante why does he not seek Sparda's power, in their last fight, Dante proudly says that he carries not only Sparda's blood but also his soul. Dante also reveals that despite not knowing why his father would leave him with Rebellion, he still kept it and he did so even when he was still angry at Sparda for Eva's death, showing he did retain enough respect to do so. Due to his brief time resenting his father, Dante is able to sympathize with Nero and he stated that no matter how bad Vergil was he still is Nero's father, indicating that even when Dante resented Sparda, he would never have killed him had he been alive and good.

Dante grows to care for Nero, who he knew to be his nephew, with him trying to save him after he got captured into the Savior and later on ordering him to flee while holding off Urizen for him, nearly being killed for this. Dante also acknowledges Nero is different from Vergil in which he seeks power to protect Kyrie and not for himself and therefore allows him to have the Yamato. Although not above calling him "dead weight", Dante reveals that this is because he does not want Nero to kill his own father.

Dante also enjoys fighting shown when he sometimes does not fight at his full potential so he can toy with his opponent or make a fight last longer. In the anime, Dante gets bored with fighting weak opponents and only finds entertainment in fighting strong opponents who will give him a challenge. Dante's enjoyment of fighting was reflected in his dialogue with Echidna during which he asked her if she agreed with him that a fight every now and then makes life more interesting.

In the anime, Dante was shown to be one of the few characters in the Devil May Cry series to swear. Dante was frequently shown to be foul-mouthed, repeatedly swearing in almost every episode. He uses coarse language when angered during his final battle with Urizen and Vergil.

He often borrows from Lady or gambles to repay these debts. However, he has extremely bad luck with all forms of gambling (Dante even has bad luck with a simple coin toss), and loses any game not involved with demon hunting. As a result, he is horribly in debt to Lady, and is often left with no money at all after she takes her cut. However, in the post-credits scene in Devil May Cry 4 Lady actually pays him a small amount for his "assistance", implying that he no longer owes her money.

Ironically despite Dante's handsome looks and his father's luck for women, his own luck with woman is awful in comparison, which is often shown by how many of the women who he met attacked him. Indeed, Dante's notoriously bad luck with women is such a particularly sore aspect that it is one of the few things able to irritate him. He is also shown to be dense regarding a woman's feelings, as he was not able to deduce that Lucia loves him nor is he even aware of Lady showing signs of having a crush on him. The only time he recognizes a woman showing a crush on him was when Lucia offers to have a memorable night with him and Dante refuses. He is also not a good liar and excuser unlike Sparda.

Dante has a fondness for pizza, and while he complains about olives, he always ends up with them on his pizza. His liking for pizza was added because the director believes that pizza is the "best food ever". In the anime, he is also shown to favor strawberry sundaes as well as pizza with it being pointed out on several occasions that those two foods are all he eats.

Concept and development[]

Dante's name comes from Dante Alighieri, who was a great Florentine poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, Divine Comedy, is often referenced or used as a background throughout the Devil May Cry series. Dante debuted in Devil May Cry, a game originally intended as part of Capcom's Resident Evil franchise.^[1] Series creator Hideki Kamiya rewrote the story, taking it from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.^[2][3]

According to Kamiya, the title character of Buichi Terasawa's Cobra manga series was the basis of Dante's personality. He based the character's idea on "stylishness", dressing him in a long coat to make him "showy" and making him a non-smoker (since Kamiya saw that as "more cool"). Dante wears red (the traditional Japanese color for a heroic figure) in contrast to Leon S. Kennedy, another character Kamiya created for Resident Evil 2 (who wears blue clothes).^[4][5] Kamiya said that he saw Dante as "a character that you would want to go out drinking with", someone who was not a show-off but would instead "pull some ridiculous, mischievous joke" to endear people to him (and familiarize the character with audiences).^[6] Although Kamiya was not the main writer of the first two Devil May Cry novels, he saw Shinya Goikeda's depiction of Dante as similar to his own.^[7] In development, Dante was originally called Tony Redgrade and did not carry a sword.^[8]

Artist Yuichiro Hiraki described Dante as a "nihilistic anti-hero with a dark side", based on early concept art by character designer Makoto Tsuchibayashi. As a result, he wrote him as a character who would rely on his demonic powers (Devil Trigger) during the game. Shortly after the game's development, Kamiya said that his personality would be more animated (which gave Hiraki the idea that Dante would be an "incorrigible joke-cracker") and the Devil Trigger was downplayed. Hiraki began drawing the character stylishly, working on Dante's gameplay, his swordsmanship Stinger (スティンガ, Sutinga^?) and his handling of the guns (Ebony and Ivory). Other gameplay elements were based on the fighting game series Virtua Fighter and Tekken. Dante's use of a shotgun was retained for Capcom's horror game, Resident Evil 4.^[9] Devil May Cry was designed from the ground up around Dante's acrobatics and combat abilities.^[10]

After the success of the first Devil May Cry game, Capcom inserted Dante into a game already in development. The forced development of the game matured his characterization.^[11] Dante's change to a more-taciturn character was the decision of a producer who disliked his previous incarnation. The staff aimed to make him look older than his original self (in his 30s), implying that something dramatic had happened to change his personality.^[12] Dante and Lucia in Diesel fashions appealed to the developers.^[13] The staff still felt that Dante's stylishness remained true to the original character, despite his change in personality, because of his movements.^[14] Daigo Ikeno was responsible for Dante's appearance in Devil May Cry 2 and 3. In developing the former, he attempted to make Dante more handsome. In retrospect, Ikeno was disappointed with the character's inaction in the game.^[15]

In the prequel game, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Dante was a younger, more arrogant character than in the previous installments.^[16] The designers of Devil May Cry 2 returned to design his new look, which was based on the Japanese band Johnnys. Dante exposed more skin under a jacket, which the staff believed would fit his younger persona. Trying to remain true to Kamiya's original take, the staff worked carefully to make his actions and personality appealing.^[13] Bingo Morihashi said that Dante's characterization was meant as a departure from Kamiya's style, and more of a team effort. According to Morihashi, despite seeing the character in three games he had trouble understanding him. Although Dante is a strong character, he opens up to others. Fan response to this Dante led Morihashi to say that the team was inspired by the Devil May Cry Dante, but needed to change him. Nevertheless, the character's role in facing the world impacted the writer.^[17] Dante and Vergil's relationship represents one of the themes of Devil May Cry 3: familial love. While initially Dante only wishes to have fun while fighting demons, he is moved by Lady's determination to stop her father. He decides to stop both Lady's corrupted father as well as Vergil who wishes to upon the gate to the demon world.^[18]

Dante's final design was left up to Kamiya, who discussed with Morihashi how the character should be portrayed. Kamiya felt that early depictions of Dante were too quiet, and wanted a character who was more "wild" and wore different clothing (such as his sleeveless jacket).^[18] Dante's Devil Trigger forms were designed by Kazuma Kaneko of Atlus.^[19][20] The Capcom staff was impressed with Kaneko's work, and Ikeno felt that it was not difficult to model.^[21] A wallpaper with Dante and Vergil's Devil Trigger forms was designed, as a tribute to the Japanese show Super Sentai once defeating the game.^[13] Dante was designed to be easy to control, in contrast to Vergil (who was more difficult, but stronger).^[2]

Devil May Cry 4 producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi noted before the game's release that they wanted to make Dante seem significantly more powerful then its other protagonist, Nero, to create a difference between the strength of a "veteran" compared with a "rookie"; the series' continuity also dictated that Dante display the power he possessed after the events of the first game and its prequel Devil May Cry 3.^[22] The use of a new proagonist was discussed multiple times but Capcom did not get the approval for it, Kobayashi said that Dante also had to be in the game.^[23] The staff were afraid of negative feedback similar to what happened to Konami's 2001 game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which was considered controversial because of switching the protagonists. As a result, the team tried balancing Dante and Nero's strenght.^[24] In order to balance the two protagonists, Dante and Nero were given unique gameplay; Dante retained his change of styles from Devil May Cry 3 but now could change between each of them within a battle rather a stage.^[25] Due to physical similarities between Dante and Nero, the staff aimed to make their designs more unique and make their personalities stand out in their interactions with other characters; an example was the Devil May Cry 4 antagonist, Agnus. Nero remained at odds with Agnus in cutscenes, but Dante mocked Agnus in a musical taunt before the boss fight with him which signified how different the two playable characters were in term of personality.^[12]

Dante was designed in Devil May Cry 4 by Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who called the character in his original appearance "the ultimate Hollywood action superstar." Yoshikawa wanted to make Dante older, in his 30s or 40s. His design included a stubble which reflected his "cool" personality (since he did not care about shaving).^[26] For Devil May Cry 4, Dante's body was more suitable for fighting and his personality was more intense; Yoshikawa emphasised the character's sternness and naughtiness. Dante was given a variety of costumes, with one intended to indicate mystery.^[27] Several weapons in the series are character-specific. One is Pandora, a firearm designed by Kobayashi (who noted that he wanted to include a "transforming, multi-purpose AWD in Dante's arsenal. Something that could be used as an over-the-shoulder rocket launcher, or a crossbow, etc. In its final form, [he] wanted it to transform into something that would be even bigger than Dante himself."), the weapon was inspired by anime series such as Macross and Gundam.^[22] The staff felt that Dante received more missions and weapons than they had originally intended.^[12]

Dante and Nero's appearance was changed in the E3 2018 trailer for Devil May Cry 5, confusing fans who wondered if Nero was Dante. After seeing the older Dante at the trailer's end, Capcom noted that fans realized who was who and were pleased with the designs.^[28] According to the company, Dante "hasn't gone wild for no reason".^[29] Because the graphics of the game are meant to be as realistic as possible, Dante's face was modeled after an actor named Adam Covie.^[30]

Story[]

Early life[]

Dante and his older twin brother Vergil were born to the legendary demon knight Sparda and the human Eva where they lived in a remote home near Red Grave City. As young children, Sparda would train the boys and for much of Dante's early childhood, he didn't realise his father was a demon. Sometime before their eighth birthday, Eva gave Dante and Vergil each a half of the Perfect Amulet. Eventually, Sparda died under unknown circumstances, leaving Eva and the twins alone. When Dante was eight years old, he and his family were attacked by demons. Eva was killed, and though both Vergil and Dante survived, the twins were separated, and Dante believed Vergil to have died up until they met one year before the events of Devil May Cry 3. Dante followed his mother's last wish, and took up a new identity to hide from the demons, Anthony "Tony" Redgrave.

Some years later Dante, as Tony, found himself under the care of a woman posing as his mother on Morris Island. He befriended another boy named Ernest. Dante and his foster mother were forced to leave town when a demon attacked and burned down the town. Years after the Morris Island incident, Dante became a mercenary, and frequented Bobby's Cellar. He befriended a local gunsmith named Nell Goldstein, who built his signature handguns. A massacre occurred at Bobby's Cellar, a man named Grue died, and his daughter died during a demon invasion at the hospital she was in, and Dante was blamed for all of it. Nell was also killed during this event, and Dante knew who the man who killed her was, but remains tightlipped about it.

Dante inherited one of his father's most powerful swords, the Rebellion, and two of his guns, Ebony & Ivory. He would grew up to become a powerful and famous mercenary, and demon hunter. He eventually opened up his own mercenary-for-hire shop in an unknown city somewhere in America.

Devil May Cry 3[]

Dante is first seen sitting in his yet-to-be-named shop. Arkham comes to the shop and gives Dante an "invitation" to the Temen-ni-gru (a holy tower constructed by devil worshippers) on behalf of his brother Vergil; as soon as he leaves, Dante is attacked by a swarm of hell jailers. Dante effortlessly kills them all, and heads to the tower in search of an "interesting time".

Meanwhile, Vergil speaks to Arkham about his plan to reopen the portal to the demon world and obtain his father's power, in the form of the Force Edge sword that lies there. Within the tower, Dante encounters and defeats the demonic gatekeepers who were sealed away by his father, as well as the demon hunter Lady, who is in pursuit of her father Arkham, and the demon Jester, who guides him through the tower for his own reasons. Upon defeating most of these demons, Dante acquires their souls in the form of new weapons and combat styles. Dante, Lady, and Vergil eventually discover that Arkham is Jester, and was using all of them in order to open the portal and acquire the Force Edge for himself, using it as a means to gain Sparda's power and become a god. After defeating Arkham in the demon world, Vergil and Dante duel for the ownership of the Force Edge. In the end of the battle, Dante claims ownership of the Force Edge, while Vergil chooses to remain in the netherworld.

Dante matures considerably as a result of his ordeal, and inspired by Lady's courage and commitment to her own family, he continues his demon hunting business with a greater sense of purpose. They become partners and he decides to call his shop "Devil May Cry", in reference to what Lady said to comfort him over the loss of his brother Vergil.

Devil May Cry[]

Dante gets attacked in his office by a mysterious woman named Trish. He impresses her by easily brushing off her assault, and tells her that he hunts demons in pursuit of those who killed his mother and brother. She says the attack was a test and that the demon emperor Mundus is planning a return at Mallet Island. She takes him to the castle there, but abruptly disappears.

Dante explores the castle, slaying minor demons and finding weapons, and encounters the spider-like demon Phantom, while looking for a way to proceed through the castle. Dante wins the battle, but Phantom soon reappears and chases him through the halls of the castle. After further exploration and combat, Dante battles a demon named Nelo Angelo who impresses Dante with his confidence. The demon pins Dante to a nearby wall, but suddenly flees upon seeing the half-amulet Dante wears. The demon attacks twice more in later missions, and is eventually revealed to be Vergil, manipulated by Mundus. After Nelo Angelo's final defeat, his half of the amulet joins with Dante's half-amulet, transforming the Force Edge into its true form, the Sparda.

When Dante next meets Trish, she betrays him and reveals that she is also working for Mundus. She lures Dante into a final fight with the bio-weapon Nightmare, but Dante manages to kill the monster. In the resulting chaos, the room collapses, and Trish is almost crushed. Dante saves her, claiming it was solely because of her resemblance to his mother. Furious because of her betrayal, Dante warns her to stay away from him. Yet when he finally confronts Mundus, who is about to kill Trish, Dante chooses again to save her but is injured. Mundus tries to finish him off, but Trish takes the attack instead. Dante's emotion at this tragedy unleashes his full power, allowing him to take on the form of his father. Afterwards, Dante and Mundus battle on another plane of existence with Dante victorious.

Dante leaves the Perfect Amulet and Sparda sword with Trish's immobile body before departing. However, just as Dante reaches the castle's hangar, Mundus, who is now back to his regular strength, returns and corners Dante. However, Trish also returns and lends Dante her power. Dante is able to defeat Mundus by sealing him away again. When Trish tries to apologize, she begins to cry. Dante tells her that it means she has become human and not just a devil, because "devils never cry". Dante and Trish narrowly escape on a plane as the island collapses. After the credits, it is revealed that Dante and Trish are working together as partners and have renamed the shop to "Devil Never Cry".

Devil May Cry 2[]

The game begins by showing Dante and a mysterious female demon hunter named Lucia separately entering a museum where an important item called the Arcana Medaglia is stored. After defeating a group of demons in the museum, Lucia invites Dante to follow her to the Dumary Island, where he is introduced to Matier, her mother. Matier explains that she once fought alongside Dante's father, Sparda, to defend the island against demons. She asks Dante to help fight Arius, an international businessman who uses demonic power and seeks to conquer the world. Dante flips a coin as an answer, and decides to help when the coin lands on heads. After Dante leaves Matier and Lucia discuss the Arcana, the items required for Arius to release the demon Argosax.

Lucia eventually confronts Arius, who reveals that she was his creation. When Lucia moves to strike Arius, he uses his magic to blast her away. Shortly afterwards, Dante meets up with Lucia, who gives him the last of the Arcana before leaving. Dante then encounters Matier and tries to pass the Arcana to her. Matier, in turn, asks Dante to take the Arcana to save Lucia, who has gone to fight Arius again. Dante flips the coin again to decide if he will help; it lands on heads, and he departs to aid Lucia. Meanwhile, Lucia enters the Uroboros building and attacks Arius, who captures her. Dante arrives and trades the Arcana for Lucia, then attacks Arius. To escape, Arius forces Dante to decide between saving Lucia or killing him.

Lucia, worried about the ritual and conflicted about herself, wonders how they will stop Arius. Dante waves her off, stating he will find a way. Dante leaves Lucia to think as he departs to defeat Arius. Matier arrives a short time later, sets Lucia's mind at ease, and decides to rejoin the fight against Arius.

Dante arrives to find Arius in the middle of his immortality-inducing ritual. Apparently not at all phased by the completion of the ceremony, Dante stands confident. Another fight ensues, in which Dante finishes Arius off with his pistols. Outside, Lucia confronts Dante and demands that he kill her because she fears she will become a demon herself. Before the issue can be resolved, a large stream of energy strikes the tower and a portal to the demon world is opened. Dante and Lucia argue over who will enter and close it from the inside; Dante offers to leave the issue up to fate. He flips the coin and it once again lands on heads, leaving Dante to enter the portal to deal with Argosax after leaving the coin with Lucia.

After Dante departs, Arius returns to life bearing demonic power. While Lucia fights Arius, he finds himself injured and attempts to distract her, a tactic which fails; Lucia goes on to defeat him. Within the portal, Dante fights and defeats the partially summoned Argosax. Finding the portal closed, Dante instead drives further into the demon realm on a motorcycle. In the aftermath of the battle, Matier attempts to reassure Lucia about Dante's fate, insisting that Sparda returned from a similar trip. Lucia examines the coin Dante left with her and discovers that both sides are identical. Sometime later in Dante's shop, Lucia muses about Dante and how Sparda, having taken the exact same journey to hell, came back. Outside, the sound of a motorcycle echoes, and Lucia leaves to investigate who it is. It is not shown whether the arrival is Dante or not. Because of his reappearance in the next chronological sequel, Devil May Cry 5 and bearing new devil arms, particularly in the form of a motorcycle, it is highly likely Dante is the one who showed up.

Devil May Cry 4[]

Everything was set into motion when Lady came to Dante's office (which for some reason has been renamed to "Devil May Cry" again), offering a job. She told him about the Order of the Sword — a small congregation in the castle town of Fortuna, which worships Sparda, much to Dante's surprise.

She explained that there is a legend of Sparda in that he served as a feudal lord at the city a long time ago. She also said that although peaceful worship can't be condemned, the Order's members recently started catching demons and collecting Devil Arms, interfering with her work. Trish, who was present and heard all this, departed with the Sparda sword, leaving a "see you there" message written in lipstick on the wall. There was nothing for Dante to do but to go to Fortuna after her.

Later it is revealed that the Order's increased activity was because of The Savior, a giant artificial demon created by the Order, which is only controllable with Sparda's blood and sword. They started creating smaller copies of the true Hell Gate, which they powered with the gathered Devil Arms. These were needed to harvest demons in order to power The Savior, as well as to lure Dante to Fortuna. It seems that Dante became aware of their plan, most likely through Trish, who disguised herself as Gloria and handed over the Sparda sword to infiltrate the Order.

After watching Nero defeat a group of Scarecrows from the rooftops, Dante makes his entrance in Fortuna through the roof of the Opera House during the Festival of the Blade, executing the town's vicar, Sanctus, and slaying several Holy Knights who try to subdue him. Nero, one of the Holy Knights, enraged that his love-interest Kyrie has been endangered, interrupts Dante and keeps him busy until Kyrie and her brother Credo can escape.

After a brief fight with Nero, Dante reveals to him that the slain knights were actually demons, and leaves with a cryptic message to Nero, claiming that he and Nero (as well as the fallen knights) are the same, although Dante suspect that Nero carries something different from the others. He then leaves Nero and heads for Fortuna Castle. On Credo's orders, Nero follows Dante, catching up to him at the entrance to Mitis Forest. However, Dante escapes by falling from the cliff into the forest. Nero finally confronts Dante within the Order's headquarters, but Nero no longer seeks to capture Dante because he has been betrayed by the Order. However, Dante challenges him for his brother's sword, Yamato, which Nero now possesses.

After an intense battle, Nero at last gets the upper hand, but then Dante easily knocks Nero down, making Nero realize that Dante has been playing with him from the beginning. Dante explains that Yamato is the key to opening the demon world, but allows Nero to continue using the sword because he needs it to rescue Kyrie.

However, Nero is absorbed by the Order's partly awakened Savior, which is controlled by the revived Sanctus. Credo is mortally wounded trying to stop Sanctus, and the Yamato is taken by the Order's scientist, Agnus, to open the true Hell Gate in Fortuna. At the dying Credo's request, Dante follows the Savior back to town to rescue Nero and Kyrie after sending Trish to help the citizens escape to safety. Along the way, he kills Echidna, Dagon and Berial, destroys the three fake Hell Gates they had emerged from and obtains the Devil Arms that had powered the gates. Once he returns to the Opera House where it all began, he finds Agnus. The two fight, ending with Dante killing Agnus. Dante recovers the Yamato, closes the Hell Gate, and destroys it.

This catches the attention of Sanctus, who attempts to kill Dante using the Savior. However, Dante is able to weaken the artificial demon enough that he can reawaken Nero by returning the Yamato to him. Dante continues to distract the Savior while Nero tracks down Sanctus and slays him. Nero succeeds and breaks free of the Savior with Kyrie and the Sparda in his hands.

However, before Dante could drag away an apology from Nero, the Savior reawakens as "The False Savior", a weakened version of the creature created by the weapon's merge with Sanctus. Nero hands Dante the Sparda, and attacks the atrocity with his Devil Bringer, destroying it. When the battle is finally over, Nero thanks Dante for his help. Afterwards, he attempts to return the Yamato to Dante, but tells him to keep it. Nero asks if he will meet Dante again, but Dante leaves only with a simple wave and later along with Trish and Lady watches for a bit as Nero and Kyrie kiss each other.

In a post-credits scene, Dante and Trish have returned to their shop. Lady enters and thanks Dante and Trish for helping her by eliminating the Order. She hands them the case with their payment, but it is revealed to contain only a few banknotes. Against Trish's protests, Lady claims that it was her fault that the situation got out of hand. Dante calms them down by commenting that "[they] take what [they] can get". Suddenly, the phone rings, and Trish informs Dante that it is a customer with a password that they have been apparently looking for and that it is in the vicinity. The game ends with Dante accepting the job and heading out of the shop along with Trish and Lady who both decides to help him.

Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare[]

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Devil May Cry 5[]

Years after the events of Devil May Cry 4, Dante has his shop stripped of electricity and water due to not being able to pay his bills. This soon changes when Morrison brings him a job request that pays Dante cash upfront which brings the electricity and water back. In addition, Dante was informed that Patty wanted him to join her 18th birthday party but he decides to take the job to avoid going. Morrison introduces Dante to his latest client, V. To Dante's dismay, Morrison went off to grab Lady and Trish, claiming that this was a "big job". Alone with V, Dante is asked by V to investigate and stop the demon infestation in Red Grave City, which was organized by the Qliphoth tree planted by a powerful known as Urizen, who according to V is on a different level than any opponent Dante has ever faced. When Dante asked what was so special about Urizen, V states that the demon was Dante's "reason for fighting". Dante, understanding that Urizen must be in fact Vergil, decides to leave for the city, along with Lady, Trish and V, and leaves Morrison to guard his shop.

Dante, Trish, and Lady travel through the Qlipoth to confront Urizen while V unexpectedly departs; secretly intending to bring Nero for extra assistance. Dante fights Urizen after he defeats Lady and Trish but he is brushed aside by the strong demon. Nero arrives and attacks Urizen but he is badly beaten. Dante recovers just in time to change Urizen's focus from Nero to himself, thus beginning "Round 2". Transforming into his Devil Trigger form, he buys Nero and V enough time to escape, but even in this form, Dante is effortlessly overpowered by Urizen and his sword, Rebellion is shattered. Urizen taunts Dante as he wraps the roots around Dante, but Trish, using her remaining strength, throws the Sparda to Dante who grabs it and changes into his Devil Trigger form again. Charging at Urizen once more, Urizen swats him away, sending him and the Sparda flying out of the Qlipoth.

Dante remains in a month long coma, with his hair grown long and covered in Qliphoth blood, until he is ultimately woken up by V, who nearly stabs him with the Sparda. Upon awakening, he is briefed on everything that has happened up until this point by V and thus hurries back to the Qlipoth to fight Urizen once again and save Nero from getting himself killed. Along the way, he defeats Cavaliere Angelo and rescues Trish from within; also acquiring the Cavaliere. He returns back to his old home where he remembers that he accessed his Devil Trigger when Vergil once stabbed Rebellion into his chest years ago and briefly wondered why his father gave him the Rebellion. He soon quickly comes to the realization that while the Yamato was used to separate, the Rebellion was used to unify. He stabs the broken Rebellion into his chest where the Sparda absorbs the Rebellion, allowing Dante to achieve his Sin Devil Trigger form and obtain his new weapon: Devil Sword Dante.

With this new power, Dante quickly goes to the Qlipoth where he arrives just in time to save Nero. He easily overwhelms Urizen who is forced to retreat once the Qliphoth fully completes its emergence in the human world. Dante soon reunites with Lady, Trish, V, and Nero where he is informed that Urizen is at the "top" of the Qlipoth which Dante confused for the "bottom". He also meets Nico, the granddaughter of the late gunsmith Nell Goldstein, who crafted Dante's trademark pistols Ebony & Ivory. In honor of their meeting, Nico gives Dante a gift: Dr. Faust. Dante attempts to dissuade Nero from continuing the mission, but V convinces Dante to allow it. He splits up from everyone, declaring that this was "his gig", though in reality, he wanted to take care of business for Nero's sake given the circumstances.

After battling the unleashed gatekeeper known as King Cerberus, who Dante reminisces from encountering the last demon of his kind and acquiring the Devil Arm of the same name, Dante encounters Urizen in an illusionary landscape all formed by the demonic fruit made by the Qlipoth. Urizen consumes the fruit and obtains overwhelming power, and despite this, Dante battles his brother. Despite the power the fruit granted him, Urizen is defeated by Dante. Nero and V arrive in the aftermath where Nero has learned from V that Urizen was Dante's brother Vergil. Dante allows V to take matters into his own hands but as V approaches Urizen and tells the demon how they are one and the same, Dante (having presumably heard their brief conversation) realizes that V intended on reuniting with Urizen and rushes to stop him. Dante is too late however, as V stabs Urizen and successfully merges back, resulting in Vergil's rebirth.

Dante immediately charges at Vergil, but the latter did not wish to end their conflict with Dante so wounded and thus requested that he heal his wounds and get stronger before they settled the matter. Vergil escapes, but not before thanking Nero. Dante once again tries to send Nero back home but he refuses to go as he recognizes Vergil the one responsible for stealing his right demon arm. In a brief argument and out of frustration, Dante was forced to reveal that Vergil was Nero's father, much to Nero's shock. Dante explains that he had a feeling when he first saw Nero but did not know for sure. However, upon seeing how the Yamato reacted in Nero's possession, Dante was certain that he was Vergil's son. Dante finally tells his nephew that his father needed to be stopped but he didn't want Nero to be the one to do it given the circumstances. He leaves Nero to both grieve and ponder as he travels to the Qliphoth to confront his brother.

He briefly meets back up with Trish, Lady, and Nico, to discuss the situation, and Nico gives the Kalina Ann II to Dante, much to Lady's dismay. He tells the girls to leave while he takes care of Vergil. He finds opposition in the form of V's familiars, Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare who are revealed to be the lingering abominable thoughts of when Vergil was Nelo Angelo. Since V had returned to Vergil, the familiars were free to kill Dante without anything or anyone holding them back. Dante wonders why they choose to fight him despite that they must know they don't stand a chance against him. After defeating them, he learns that with their death, Vergil's nightmares will end. With a final farewell to the familiars, Dante presses on.

The demon hunter finally arrives to the top of the Qlipoth where he demands the Yamato from Vergil, knowing fully well that Vergil was not going to give it up without a fight. The two brothers fight ruthlessly where Dante reveals to Vergil that Nero was his son, much to his brother's initial confusion. While Dante amusingly expresses interest in hearing the story on how Nero's conception occurred, he preferred to finish things with Vergil which the latter agreed to. Accessing their Sin Devil Trigger forms, they prepare to conclude their battle until Nero unexpectedly arrives and intervenes in their conflict with his true Devil Trigger form. Dante and Vergil are shocked by Nero's sudden transformation, but when Dante tries to remind Nero that this isn't his fight, he is suckerpunched that leaves him winded for a while. Dante shows indifference towards Vergil's suggestion that if he beats Nero means that he also beats Dante by default, so he decides to sit back and watch Nero and Vergil do battle.

Once Vergil is bested, Dante amusingly comments on the irony of how Vergil took his own son's demon arm to obtain more power but still got defeated. As the Qliphoth begins to crumble, Dante decides to put aside the conflict in order to take down the Qliphoth once and for all. He and Vergil decide to go into the Demon World, knowing fully well that they will not be able to come back if they go. Dante claims he wishes to go so he can "keep an eye" on Vergil. As Nero pleads with them, Dante tells him that it's because he (Nero) is here that they can go into the Demon World. Despite Nero's protests, Dante and Vergil still go into the Demon World, leaving Nero behind as the new protector of the human world. Once in the Demon World, the brothers fend off numerous hordes of demons before successfully cutting down the roots of the Qliphoth, ending the crisis.

Now stuck in the Demon World, Dante and Vergil battle each other once again, but their rivalry now seems to be on more friendly terms. However, their sparring is being constantly interrupted by interfering demons. Much to Vergil's annoyance, Dante says his catchphrase "Jackpot!" as they proceed to fend off another demon horde.

Powers and abilities[]

Powers[]

Dante possesses extraordinary powers far beyond that of any human being and most demons thanks to the blood of his father, Sparda, running through his veins. Being a half-demon who is able to gain more powers and weapons from the powerful demons he is defeated, Dante grows increasingly stronger throughout the series. By Devil May Cry 4, Dante is able to take on The Savior empowered by Sparda's power, and by Devil May Cry 2, he is able to singlehandedly destroy the demon king Argosax whom Sparda sealed, showing Dante has gotten powerful enough to rival his god-like father and may even be superior to him.

Even since Devil May Cry 3, before Dante fully awakens hia demon blood, he rarely shows himself to struggle in battle and wins most of his fights with such ease it's as if he was merely toying with his opponent. However, when his opponents can prove themselves to be worthy adversaries, Dante stops toying with his opponents and fights them seriously, as shown on his battles against his twin brother Vergil, and the demon king Mundus.

Notably, these same opponents were the only ones who have ever defeated Dante in combat. Even then, he only suffers his first defeat at the hands of Vergil in their first battle in Devil May Cry 3 because Vergil has already fully awakened his own demonic blood. Post his awakening and after gaining a few Devil Arms, Dante is able to fight evenly with his brother, and by the end of DMC3, Dante is ultimately able to defeat Vergil. However, his later defeat against the Mundus-empowered Vergil as Nelo Angelo was legitimate, as Dante's half of the Perfect Amulet interferes with Nelo's memories, causing him pain and preventing him from finishing Dante, although Dante, as he grew even stronger, ultimately overpowers his older brother again. Although Mundus managed to overtake Dante easily, it must be noted that this was because Dante was off-guard and once Dante brandished the Force Edge, he managed to ultimately defeat the Demon King.

After his victory against Mundus at the end of Devil May Cry, Dante is powerful enough to be known as the legendary "Devil Hunter" among the demons, much like how his own father was called the "Dark Knight". His powers are tremendous, to the point where he is almost never shown fighting seriously thereafter. Nero apparently defeated him at the beginning of Devil May Cry 4, but Dante admitted the battle only ended the way it did because he underestimated Nero. In their second fight, although Nero had gotten even more powerful, Dante, while still not using all his power, ultimately trounced Nero. This rare show of struggle is another example of his tremendous power, showing that Dante simply holds back greatly against opponents who are in theory stronger then him, and in the end defeats them without any signs of difficulty. As of now, Dante's might has only been surpassed in Devil May Cry 5 by the main antagonist Urizen, the new Demon King, although it must be noted he fought considerably better than Nero did. However, after fully unlocking his power, Dante is able to fight Urizen to a standstill and after acquiring more Devil Arms, defeats him even after he acquired the Qliphoth fruit's power. He also fights Vergil, who now has the power of both Urizen and V, to a standstill. His power has completely surpassed that of Sparda.

Throughout the Devil May Cry series, it is constantly implied that Dante's strength is not just due to his father, but also from his will to protect others. It is implied that any demon who possesses the will to protect and love others rather than to simply destroy will gain the full might of their demonic power, though Dante and Vergil may simply be exceptions due to their hybrid souls and human upbringing by their mother.

Superhuman strength: Dante possesses incredible raw bodily strength even while in human form. He is able to easily throw around street thugs and an obese prison warden. He is also able to easily snap handcuffs. He can shatter stone with little difficulty, and often overpowers demons much larger and more imposing than himself without much effort. Although his strength has been seen to be matched and even at times surpassed by his older brother and nephew, Dante is more often than not capable of besting them, as shown by how he could go blow-to-blow with Vergil in their first fight despite being considerably pressured, eventually being able to match him and ultimately overpower him in their last duel after being fully awakened, although he lost to Nelo Angelo, he later bested his brother. In addition, he could also force back Nero with the sheer force of his sword blows without much effort while holding back, forcing him to use his Devil Bringer to overpower him while holding back. Upon revealing more of his power, Dante easily blocked a punch from Nero's Devil Bringer and even casually forced him back with enough force to destroy a wall behind him and knocked down Nero with a single push to the back, even with Nero's improvements, although it seemed Nero was still capable of blocking Dante's blows and even pushing him back, it was only due to Dante still not fighting to kill. He's even strong enough to block The Savior's punch with little strain.

Superhuman speed and agility: Dante is blindingly fast, and in some cases appears to be teleporting. During his younger years, he was capable of swinging his sword so fast that rain drops cannot escape his blade over a wide area. Also while Dante was running down the side of Temi-Ni-Gru, he shot Rebellion, causing it to fall so quickly it began superheating the air around it, then he chased his sword fast enough to catch up to it and eventually reaching a speed great enough that the air around his hand became superheated as well. Dante's reflexes are fast enough that he can dodge bullets, slice them, shoot them out of the air, and even catch them with his teeth. He is extremely agile as well; able to jump to great heights or even balance himself on a flying rocket, as well as run up vertical walls. In addition, his agility allows him to perform amazing feats of acrobatics that easily surpass even the finest human acrobat.

However, Vergil is shown to be capable of keeping up with him just fine, as shown by how he had difficulty matching Vergil's speed, needing genuine effort to repel his attacks and outpaced by Vergil twice, having Rebellion ripped out of his grasp and stabbed twice before he could react, although by the end, Dante had gotten used to Vergil's speed, even managing to outmaneuver him. As Nelo Angelo, Vergil later outpaced Dante yet again, disarming and outfighting him in hand-to-hand combat and only being beaten with moderate difficulty later on. Nero could also contend with Dante in terms of speed, albeit granted Nero was fighting Dante at less than full power, as his nephew could react to his blows fairly well in their first fight despite being slowly pressured due to Dante's superior sword skills and even managed to outpace him by the time his speed had grew alongside his other powers, forcing him back and disarming him, but once Dante used more of his power, he proved able to easily dodge the incoming attack and outpace him.

Superhuman durability: Dante's tremendous durability has been shown to allow him to remain almost entirely or entirely unaffected by extremely powerful attacks. Being punched so hard by Beowulf as to make an imprint in the stone ground did absolutely no damage on him and his teeth can effortlessly catch bullets and he is entirely unfazed by Hellfire and lightning strikes as well as most other attacks. However, be as impressive his durability is, it is not without limits; Rebellion and Yamato, the two extremely powerful swords wielded by his father, has proven capable of penetrating his durability, allowing attacks from the sword to actually injure and harm him to an extent, much more so in Devil May Cry 3, as he was badly injured when he got stabbed by Yamato and knocked out for a while after being stabbed by his own sword, although he eventually overcame this enough that he could shrug off wounds inflicted by Yamato. By Devil May Cry 4, Dante could take Rebellion deeply stabbed through his stomach with little hinderance. However, it is shown that he was still vulnerable to it as he expressed pain when deeply stabbing himself with the remains of Rebellion to unlock his full power. Beings of superior or equal power could also ultimately make Dante sustain injuries and increasingly be harmed over time, as shown when Vergil could send him flying with enough force to cause him pain with a single blunt blow from Yamato and later as Nelo Angelo, he stunned Dante for a brief moment with a single blow. Mundus also brought him to his knees for a time with spears of red energy and hurled him out of Devil Trigger with a barrage of meteors. Urizen also managed to deal a severe enough of a beating to knock him out and he even managed to simultaneously knock Dante out of Devil Trigger while destroying Rebellion, leaving the Son of Sparda in a coma state. After acquiring his full power, he is able to remain mostly unfazed by his fight with Urizen and even able to only take moderate injuries after defeating him when he was powered by Qliphoth.

Superhuman endurance: Despite some of the physically punishing things Dante has gone through, he has the ability to move forward with little difficulty. Even while impaled with Hell Pride's scythes lodged in his torso and arms, he casually walks about his office. He often went on hours long missions with constant fighting, no rest, food, or water and shows no fatigue. This attribute serves to compliment Dante's durability, allowing him to thus quickly recover from even attacks capable of actually damaging him, although it does have limits, as he had trouble getting up after being beaten up by Urizen and was knocked out for an entire month after being hit.

Accelerated healing: Dante can instantly heal from nearly any wound; even the Hell Pride were surprised when he ignored their attacks. Combined with his great resilience, Dante's healing factor makes him nearly unkillable.

Demon power manipulation: Dante is able to channel his demonic energies into various physical objects, ranging from his guns to the air itself.

Telekinesis: Dante demonstrates telekinetic abilities, catching Trish's motorcycle in mid-flight before shooting it with Ebony and Ivory. He also appeared to show telekinetic abilities in the anime, shown when he splayed his hand and Rebellion smashed through the ceiling window before landing in his hand, although this could also be related to Dante's metaphysical connection to the sword.

Abilities[]

Master Combatant: Dante is extremely proficient in all forms of combat, which combined with his physical powers, makes him extraordinarily deadly, having fought and beaten multiple enemies with no effort as well as doing the same to most other singularly powerful foes and even fighting and beating those with immense power and highly extensive combat training such as Nero and Vergil, although against them requires considerable effort.

• Master Swordsman: Dante is an extremely adept swordsman, capable of easily outfighting many knights of the Order of the Sword, soundly besting Credo, the Order's finest swordsmaster, and swords are his preferred weapons. Dante was also capable of standing up to Vergil in their first fight and although ultimately overpowered by his older brother's experience, Dante soon grew in skill to almost match, effectively fight side-by-side with and eventually defeat Vergil in their final duel. Even when Vergil had been turned into Nelo Angelo, Dante remained capable of overpowering his brother in swordplay, only being beaten when caught off-guard and disarmed bare-handed. While holding back, Dante was able to steadily overwhelm the also extremely skilled Nero in their sword duel. However, due to him holding back still, Nero's later improvements allowed him to disarm Dante in swordplay in their recent duel.
• Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Dante is also an extremely capable martial artist, with a large array of knowledge and mastery of many martial arts, as shown by how he ultilizes an improved version of many martial arts techniques. Both armed with Devil Arm Gauntlets and with solely his bare hands, he could defeat lesser demons with no difficulty and he once managed to, with a single swift maneuver, knock down and disarm Nero.
• Master Weapon Expert: Swords maybe Dante's preferred method of combat, but Dante is also highly proficient in utilizing other weapons, even improvised ones, such as scythes, greaves and even guitars.

Devil Trigger[]

Dante has the ability to enter a temporary transformation called "Devil Trigger". In this state, Dante possesses more speed, steady health regeneration, and further abilities with his equipped melee weapon. Also, his physical appearance changes into a demon-like form.

His demonic power reaches its peak form in this state and becomes even more powerful, boosting existing skills and easily imbuing any attack with demonic energy.

Dante has another type of devil trigger in Devil May Cry 2 called the "Majin Form" which can only be used if his health is almost gone. It gives him temporary immunity to attacks and has his strength greatly increased.

During the events in Devil May Cry 5, Dante gained a new devil trigger called "Sin Devil Trigger" which can only be used if his "Sin Meter" is full. It gives him a wide virality of attacks and its own move list.

Weapons[]

See also list of Dante's weapons.

Dante's trademark weapons are the Rebellion, the Sparda, and Ebony & Ivory. He has also used a shotgun in every title in the series, though its exact form changes throughout the games. Over the course of the past four games, Dante has collected a wide variety of weapons in addition to his regular arsenal, ranging from a curious electric guitar and several pairs of gauntlets/greaves to twin submachine guns and a shape-changing, demonic briefcase. He keeps many weapons and trophies displayed within his office, so it is likely that he keeps old weapons there as well. In the events of Devil May Cry 5, his Rebellion was destroyed by the game's main antagonist Urizen. Later of the game, Dante stabs himself with the now-broken Rebellion and regained its shape with a new form and a new name called "Legendary Demon Sword Dante".

Dante is an extremely adept combatant. He is incredibly proficient with any type of weapon, displaying near-mastery of them within moments of picking them up. He is also quite skilled in unarmed combat, managing to disarm and subdue Nero barehanded in their second fight; his hand-to-hand combat skills are also displayed by his usage of gauntlet-style Devil Arms.

Dante's skill with firearms is impeccable. He has displayed enough accuracy to hit targets as small as the pommel of his sword; shoot his opponents' bullets out of mid-air; and hit the same target over and over with such unerring precision that his bullets stack on top of each other. Dante is also shown to have incredible hand-eye coordination; for example, he kicks the Neo-Generator into the statue above the bridge approximately 20 meters away from where he stands in Devil May Cry 3, and kicks the seed of Echidna the She-Viper back at her to get her attention in Devil May Cry 4.

Other appearances[]

Dante has made playable appearances and cameos in several games outside of the Devil May Cry series.

• In the Viewtiful Joe series, also created by Hideki Kamiya, he and Trish appears in the PlayStation 2 version of the original Viewtiful Joe game and the PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble.

• Dante makes a cameo appearance in the last panel of Jedah's Capcom Fighting Evolution ending.

• He appears as an enemy and optional ally in the North American release of Nocturne: Shin Megami Tensei III.

• Dante also appeared as a card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter DS.

• Dante was also set to appear in Namco's Soul Calibur III as a guest character, but he did not make the roster.^[31] However, templates exist to make a number of characters using the create-a-character mode, including both Dante and Vergil.

• Dante (along with Trish) appeared as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and its updated version (where his twin brother Vergil also appeared). Dante appears playable in the newest installment Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

• He appears in the Japan-only social game Onimusha Soul along with Trish, Lady and Kyrie.

• Dante appears as a Rasta in Monster Hunter Frontier G, and his outfit is available as armor to players.

• Dante appears in Project X Zone along with Lady who appears as a Solo Unit. He is paired up with fellow Capcom character Demitri Maximoff of Darkstalkers fame. He appears in the sequel, this time paired up with Vergil. The Project X Zone games marks the first time Dante and other Devil May Cry characters who appear in the titles have appeared on a Nintendo system.

• In Sengoku BASARA 4, Masamune Date has Dante's original DMC appearance as a DLC outfit. Masamune's six swords are all replaced by Alastor.

• He appears as one of the available characters in the Capcom crossover puzzle game Puzzle Fighter.

• In Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Dante's Devil May Cry 4 outfit is one of the alternate costume cosplay for Ken Masters.
• Several iconic PlayStation characters have small cameos in Astro's Playroom for the PS5 as robots, including Dante, who is seen attacking a Marionette.

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Dante's orginal outfit appears as a costume for the Mii Swordfighter.

Trivia[]

• Traditionally, Dante's mixed lineage of a demon father and human mother would make him a cambion, although the name is never given in the games, and he is usually referred to as "half-demon" or just "demon", along with other similar characters with demonic heritages.

• In addition to resembling Leon S. Kennedy, Dante's Japanese voice actor, Toshiyuki Morikawa, is the current voice actor of Leon in the Japanese version of the Resident Evil games.

• Excluding the second game and Ninja Theory's game, Dante is impaled by a sword in every installment.
  • In the original Devil May Cry, Trish pins him to the floor with the Force Edge. He also gets stabbed by Alastor.
  • In Devil May Cry 3, Vergil stabs him with both the Yamato and the Rebellion.
  • In Devil May Cry 4, after hurling Dante into the Sparda statue, Nero spears him with the Rebellion.
  • In Devil May Cry 5, Dante purposefully stabs himself with Rebellion.
    • Additionaly, Dante gets also impaled by the Rebellion in the anime.

• When a fan asked Kamiya if Trish was meant to be Dante's love interest, Kamiya replied no, stating that their bond was superior to love.^[32]

• One scene in the original game, where Dante believes Trish had died after being striked by Mundus, has Dante shout out: "I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with light!". This qoute has since become memorable within the fandom.

• Despite his mixed lineage of demon and human, Dante ages like a normal human. Designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa also stated in the Devil May Cry: 3142 Graphic Arts artbook that Dante was "around 40" by the events of Devil May Cry 4.^[33]

Gallery[]

For more images of this character, see their Gallery.

References[]

External links[]

• Dante at Devil May Cry Wiki