Dante is the fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series published by Capcom. The character and Devil May Cry are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over nine million copies worldwide as of 2008 and currently spans four video games. Dante has been featured as the main protagonist in the first three games of the series and is a playable character in the fourth game. The character also appears in several Devil May Cry novels and manga volumes, and is featured in a 2007 anime.
Dante is a mercenary dedicated to exterminating demons, a mission he follows in pursuit of those that killed his mother and corrupted his brother. He is the son of Sparda, a demon of great power that rebelled against the demon emperor and defeated his army. 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. The character was designed to fit Devil May Cry game developer Hideki Kamiya's vision of a "cool and stylish" man, and his personality was based on the titular character of manga series Cobra. The character has been well received by gamers, and has often been listed as one of video gaming's coolest characters.Conception and recreation
Dante debuted in Devil May Cry, a game originally intended to be a sequel of Capcom's Resident Evil franchise. Series' creator Hideki Kamiya cited the titular character from the manga series Cobra by Buichi Terasawa served as the basis for Dante's personality. Kamiya based his idea of Dante on what he perceived as "Stylish" -- with a long coat to make the character "showy", witty like a "British guy", and a non-smoker since Kamiya sees that as more cool. Dante is described as a young man with short white hair and wears red because in Japan it is a traditional color for a heroic figure. Kamiya has also stated he perceives Dante as "a character that you would want to go out drinking with", someone who wasn't a show-off but instead would "pull some ridiculous, mischievous joke" to endear audiences to him. He added that this aspect was intended to make the character feel familiar to audiences.
Characteristics
Dante is a mercenary who specializes in paranormal cases, preferring those that call for demon slaying. He is muscular, has white hair and is usually seen wearing red leather jackets/trench coats. Dante's arsenal usually consists of firearms and melee weapons, including "Ebony and Ivory", twin handguns that never have to be reloaded, as well as a variety of swords such as "Rebellion" and "Force Edge" swords . The guns are hand-made with "For Tony Redgrave, By.45 Art Warks" written on them. He has supernatural powers, as a result of his half-demon heritage. This gives him 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. Dante is confident in his encounters with opponents, and frequently taunts boss characters before battling them.
Appearances
Devil May Cry video games
In the original Devil May Cry, Dante is hired by Trish, a mysterious woman who looks similar to his deceased mother, to stop the return of the demon king Mundus. However, she is actually setting up events for Mundus' agents to kill Dante as he makes his way to Mundus himself. During the course of the game Dante is also reunited with his brother Vergil, who, under the control of Mundus, attempts to kill him. Trish eventually betrays Mundus to save Dante, and the pair work together to lock Mundus in the demon world. Afterwards, they become partners in Dante's demon-slaying business, now re-named "Devil Never Cry".
After the success of the first game, Capcom immediately began development of its sequel, Devil May Cry 2. Hideki Kamiya, who directed the first game, was not involved in the sequel's development and the new creative team took a different direction. Dante's character was changed; he spoke little, and his cocky attitude was largely absent, which was one of the main criticisms against the game. He also had a habit of flipping a coin to make his decisions.
Set some time after the first game, Devil May Cry 2 focuses on aiding the character Lucia in defeating Arius, an international businessman who uses demonic power and seeks to conquer the world. At the end of the game, Dante must go into the demon world to stop a major demon 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 an extra scene after the credits, in which Lucia is sitting in Dante's office when she hears a motorcycle outside and rushes out to see who it is.
The third game, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, serves as a prequel to the first game and features a younger and cockier Dante. While developed by the same team that did the second game, Devil May Cry 3 was much better received than the previous installment for staying true to the original. He has considerably more dialogue during cutscenes, and players can verbally taunt monsters during gameplay. In the story, Dante is drawn out by his brother Vergil, who is attempting to reopen the portal to the demon world in order to obtain the full power of Sparda, which remains on the other side contained within the sword Force Edge. Along the way, Dante encounters Lady, who is in pursuit of her father Arkham, who is working with Vergil but has plans of his own. In the end, Dante claims ownership of the Force Edge, while Vergil chooses to remain in the demon world. Dante matures considerably during the game and, inspired by Lady's courage and commitment to her own family, continues his demon-hunting business with a greater sense of purpose. They become partners, and he decides to call his shop "Devil May Cry", after something Lady had said to comfort him.
Released in 2008, Devil May Cry 4 is the first game in the series not to feature Dante as the primary character. Dante is seen as an antagonist, at least at first, by the game's lead character, Nero. Shortly after the halfway point in the game, player control switches to Dante, until he rescues Nero, who the player then uses for the game's final showdown. By the end of the game, Dante and Nero seem to have a mutual respect towards one another.
Dante is one of the twin sons of Sparda, a demonic knight who chose to side with humanity and drive back an invasion of the human world by demons 2,000 years ago. After Sparda's death, Dante and his brother Vergil were raised by their human mother, Eva. When Dante and Vergil were still children, the family was attacked by demons, resulting in Eva's death. This event lead to Dante's commitment to hunting demons in pursuit of those that killed his mother.
Other appearances
Dante has playable appearances in several games outside of the Devil May Cry series of games. In the Viewtiful Joe series, also created by Hideki Kamiya, he appears in the PlayStation 2 version Viewtiful Joe and the PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. Dante is also seen in the last panel of Jedah's ending in Capcom Fighting Jam. He appears as an enemy and optional ally in the North American/Maniax (director's cut) release of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. There is a Dante character card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS. He was also set to appear in Soulcalibur III, but did not make it into the final game. Dante also appears in many other pieces of media based on the video games. These include two light novels, the Devil May Cry 3 manga, a comic of the first game published by Dreamwave Productions and an anime called Devil May Cry: The Animated Series.
Cultural impact
The popularity of the Devil May Cry series lead to a line of Devil May Cry action figures produced by Toycom. Japanese company Kaiyodo produced a similar line for Devil May Cry 2 and a Devil May Cry 3 Dante action figure.
Dante's confident and fearless attitude has gained him widespread popularity. He was ranked third among the "Top Ten Coolest Video Game Characters" list of Screwattack. His design and personality received praise from numerous reviews, including this quote from IGN: "a dark anti-hero kind of guy even a down-in-the-dumps, disgruntled teenager would love". GameDaily named him one of their favorite Capcom characters, ranking him seventh on their "Top 25" list and stating that the various aspects of the character made him an "unstoppable force". Game Informer described him as "one of the most bad-ass characters around", citing his contrast between the character and those previously seen in the Resident Evil series. GameSpy described his appearance as "awe-inspiring to look at", describing his attire as reminiscent of Vincent Price. GamesRadar named him "Mister 2001" in their article on the the sexiest new characters of the decade, stating that compared to the female characters in Devil May Cry, Dante was the hottest of them all. The editor cited his muscular build, hair, his fighting abilities, and his attitude for why he won. They also listed him as one of the 25 best new characters of the decade, calling him "unforgettable" as well as stating that he set the template for "smartass action heroes".
source : wikipedia.com
