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 fictional 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, but is humane and compassionate, unlike many devils. Of course his appearance is attributed to his human side as well.
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 devil, 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. 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, along with Demon World, away. The Force Edge, is a manifestation of his soul. 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 apparantely close during childhood, as fragments of DMC3 reflect this. Eva is murdered at some point, mostly likely in Dante's and Vergil's late childhood, by demons. This in turn contributes to Dante's decision to make devil hunting his life's work.
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 Dante 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 saviour that helps him finally defeat Mundus and escape the castle. Mundus is of course 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
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.
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 the 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 sanchaku (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. The 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), 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. The 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
- The Artemis, a demonic laser-rifle which resembles Nightmare Beta in both appearance and attacks, but differs in the fact that it does not consume Devil Trigger
- The Spiral, a large anti-tank penetration rifle
- The Kalina Ann, a rocket launcher equipped with a grappling hook, belonging to the bounty hunter 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:
- Viewtiful Joe (PlayStation 2 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.
- Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniacs (Director's Cut) - 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.