is a character and the protagonist of Devil May Cry, an action-adventure game series by Japanese developer and publisher Capcom. Introduced as the protagonist of the 2001 game with the same name, Dante is a for-hire demon hunter who is known for his cocky and easy-going attitude. Alongside his twin brother Vergil, Dante is one of the two sons of the heroic demon Sparda, inheriting demonic powers which he uses with a variety of weapons in the games. The character also appears in several Devil May Cry novels and manga volumes and is featured in the 2007 anime television series. Dante has also made multiple guest appearances in crossover games. Since 2005, he has been portrayed in voice acting and motion capture by Reuben Langdon.
Named after the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, the character was designed to fit Devil May Cry game designer Hideki Kamiya's vision of a "cool and stylish" man; his personality was based on the title character of the Cobra manga series. Dante has been modified in response to criticism in his role in Devil May Cry 2 (2003) as his personality changed, making him more serious and less talkative, drifting away from his original persona. Devil May Cry 3 (2005) features a young, cocky Dante, and in the following games, an older yet still cocky Dante. Capcom handles the character in the main Devil May Cry series, while Ninja Theory oversaw his persona in DmC: Devil May Cry (2013).
Dante's characterization is that of a cocky demon hunter with supernatural abilities, which has earned him much recognizability within the gaming landscape. Reuben Langdon's portrayal of Dante has also been the subject of praise. Comparatively, his redesign and characterization in DmC: Devil May Cry was highly controversial for the drastic change of his appearance and attitude.
Concept and influences
Dante debuted in Devil May Cry, a game originally intended as part of Capcom's Resident Evil franchise. Series creator Hideki Kamiya rewrote the story, taking it from Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighieri. He was originally going to be a Western policeman. His early name, Tony Redgrave, served as a reference to one of the characters from Resident Evil, Chris Redfield. Other creators besides Kamiya is Yuichiro Hiraki who was famous for designing The King of Fighters like Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami and his talent attracted Capcom when leaving the SNK company in the late 1990s. Hiraki worked in the motion capture involving Dante, his characterization and fighting style upon hearing Kamiya's concept.
Devil May Cry was designed from the ground up around Dante's acrobatics and combat abilities. Kamiya gave Tsuchibayashi freedom when designing Dante though there were concept arts Kamiya did not accept. Tsuchibayashi produced the 3D model based on other staff member's clothing and an unclear relationship between Dante and Trish. The Devil Trigger form gave him difficulties to the idea of giving him wings and altering his face, resulting in the artist performing to many sketches. An alternate outfit was developed featuring an older Dante though the designer never asked for specifics about. Nevertheless, he believes this design made Dante look more like Vergil. Tsuchibayashi says other sketches did not provide more difficulties as there was no need to match his personality.
Hideaki Itsuno said that for Devil May Cry 5, Dante was influenced by mecha anime he watched when he was young. Itsuno cited the character's conflict with his family but while showing powers that would reveal mechas. Itsuno views Dante's early defeat by Vergil's alterego Urizen and his awakening of new devil powers alongside his new sword Dante as one of the most important changes in his characterization in Devil May Cry 5.
Personality 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 "pull some ridiculous, mischievous joke" instead to endear people to him (and make the character familiar to audiences). When asked about the relationship between Dante and Trish, Kamiya said their bond was superior to love. Kamiya's keywords when describing the character were "composure" and "ambiance". 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. In development, Dante was originally called Tony Redgrave, and did not carry a sword.
In Devil May Cry 2, his goofy attitude was replaced with a more serious brooding type of personality. The staff felt that Dante's stylishness remained true to the original character (despite his change in personality) because of his movements. 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. In the prequel game, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Dante was a younger, more arrogant character than in the previous instalments. The designers of Devil May Cry 2 returned to design his new look, which was based on the Japanese band Johnnys. This Dante showed more skin under his jacket which the staff believed would fit his younger persona. Trying to remain true to Kamiya's original idea, the staff worked carefully to make his actions and personality appealing. Bingo Morihashi said that Dante's characterisation 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 affected the writer. Dante and his identical twin brother Vergil 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 Lady's corrupted father as well as Vergil who wishes to open the gate to the demon world.
Devil May Cry 4 producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi noted before the game's release that they aimed to make Dante seem significantly more powerful than 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). The introduction of a new protagonist had been discussed multiple times but was only approved under the condition that Dante also had to be featured in the game. The staff were afraid of negative feedback similar to what had happened to Konami's 2001 game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which proved highly controversial because of switching protagonists. As a result, the team tried balancing Dante and Nero's strength. Due to the physical similarities between Dante and Nero, the staff aimed to make their designs 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 terms of personality.
Itsuno initially found Dante's motivations in early games simple: "Beat this bad guy." With Devil May Cry 5, the goal was to imbue curiosity and drive. Matt Walker pointed to Dante's desire to see if Urizen was connected to his brother Vergil, giving further depth to his characterisation. The character's early defeat at the hands of Urizen coupled with the destruction of his sword Rebellion was meant to emphasise Dante's weak powers set by the narrative and how, across it, he would gain new skills to face the antagonist in a rematch. Furthermore, Dante and Nero would respect one and other as they became friends at the end of the previous game. The game's climactic event where Nero awakens his demonic powers and stops the struggle between Dante and Vergil was meant to give the story a deeper form. With regard to how Dante would play, Itsuno said he would be more like his Devil May Cry 3 persona. Nevertheless, he said that Dante is more mature from a personality standpoint since he still wishes to protect humanity and honour the legacy of his father, Sparda.
Designs
According to Kamiya, the title character of Buichi Terasawa's Cobra manga series was the basis of Dante's personality. To give the character's "stylishness" he dressed him in a long coat to make him "showy" and made him a non-smoker; Kamiya saw that as "more cool". Dante wears red clothing—the traditional Japanese color for a heroic figure—in contrast to Leon S. Kennedy, a character Kamiya created for Resident Evil 2, who wears blue clothes.
After the success of the first Devil May Cry game, Capcom inserted Dante into a game already in development. This necessitated the maturing of his characterisation. Dante's change to a more-taciturn character was a decision made by a producer who disliked his previous incarnation. The staff aimed to make him look older—in his 30s—than his original self, implying that something dramatic had happened to change his personality. Dante and Lucia dressed in Diesel fashions appealed to the developers.
Dante's final design was left up to Kamiya, who discussed with Bingo 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). Dante appears bare-chested underneath his coat, something that surprised the audience. This design was meant to fit his young personality as well as contrast Vergil's fully clothed looked. Additionally, similar to Dante's longsword and red clothing, Vergil was also made to wield a Japanese katana and wear blue clothing. Ikeno said he liked the character but had issues with it. Dante's Devil Trigger forms were designed by Kazuma Kaneko of Atlus. The Capcom staff was impressed with Kaneko's work, and Ikeno felt that it was not difficult to model. 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. Dante was designed to be easy to control, in contrast to Vergil who was more difficult but stronger.
Dante was designed in that game 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. 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. 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, I 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. The staff felt that Dante received more missions and weapons than they had originally intended.