Dante

Dante
Artwork of Dante from Project X Zone.
Universe	Devil May Cry
Debut	Devil May Cry (2001)
Smash Bros. appearances	Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition (2020)
Console/platform of origin	PlayStation 2
Species	Human/Demon hybrid
Gender	Male
Created by	Hideki Kamiya
Article on Wikipedia	Dante (Devil May Cry)

Dante (ダンテ, Dante) is the main protagonist of Capcom's Devil May Cry series.

Origin

Dante is one of the half-human, half-demon twin sons of the demon Sparda and a human woman named Eva, the other being Vergil. Shortly before their eighth birthday, Eva gave Dante and Vergil one half each of the pendant needed to awaken Sparda's sword Force Edge. Eventually, Sparda died under unknown circumstances, Eva was killed in an attack by demons, and Dante and Vergil were separated. Dante went into hiding and grew up to become a powerful demon slayer.

Dante opens a devil hunting business and is invited by Vergil to a demonic tower called the Temen-ni-gru, where Vergil intends to open a portal to the demon realm and claim Sparda's power for his own. Dante battles Vergil several times, awakening his latent ability to transform into a demonic form called Devil Trigger; ultimately, he surpasses Vergil and acquires the Force Edge, while Vergil remains in the demon realm where he is defeated by the demon king Mundus and corrupted into Nelo Angelo. Shortly afterward, Dante is lured to Mallet Island where Mundus is plotting his return. Dante makes his way through the island, defeats Nelo Angelo, and restores the Force Edge to its true form, the Devil Sword Sparda. He then defeats Mundus and seals him away again.

After battling a corrupt businessman named Arius who seeks to conquer the world through demonic power, Dante learns of a demon-worshipping cult called the Order of the Sword, and travels to the town of Fortuna to investigate. There, he battles the Order and comes into conflict with another descendant of Sparda named Nero, who Dante eventually deduces is Vergil's son. Eventually, Dante befriends Nero, who kills the leader of the Order of the Sword.

Some time later, Dante is approached by a mysterious man named V, who hires him to destroy a powerful demon named Urizen. However, Urizen defeats Dante and knocks him into a coma for a month, during which his demonic forces ravage Red Grave City. V finds and reawakens Dante, who returns to his childhood home and stabs himself with the Devil Sword Sparda. This transforms the sword into the Devil Sword Dante and unlocks his ultimate form, Sin Devil Trigger. With his new power, he defeats Urizen, revealed to be the demonic half of a surviving Vergil. V, revealed to be the human half of Vergil who he cast aside in his pursuit of power, merges with Urizen to reform Vergil. Dante engages Vergil in a final battle, but Nero intervenes and forces the two to reconcile their differences. The two travel into the demon realm and seal it off from the human realm, then reignite their rivalry on friendlier terms.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a costume

A Mii Swordfighter in the Dante costume.

Dante was released as a DLC Mii Swordfighter costume on June 29th, 2021, alongside Kazuya Mishima. The design of the Mii Costume is largely based on his appearance in the first Devil May Cry game, though the wig is closer in design to his hairstyle in Devil May Cry 5. Dante is wielding the Alastor, one of the many swords usable in the game. In the costume's trailer, the Dante Mii is shown using Gale Stab, a clear reference to Stinger, one of his most iconic moves. The Dante Mii is then seen fighting Piranha Plant, possibly referencing Echidna, a plant-like boss from Devil May Cry 4, using Stone Scabbard on it, this one referencing two of his most commonly used attacks from the Devil May Cry series, High Time for the initial launch and Helm Breaker for the downward stab. The trailer then shows the Dante Mii fighting Dark Samus, possibly as a reference to Doppelganger from Devil May Cry 3, as both it and Dark Samus serve as evil doppelgangers of Dante and Samus, respectively. Dark Samus' appearance as an enemy could also be a nod to Nelo Angelo, a boss in the first Devil May Cry game with dark blue pulsating lines running across his armor.

Trivia

• As with other Mii Costumes based on characters from primarily M-rated franchises, the logo for Devil May Cry, the series Dante hails from, is absent in the American version of his Mii Costume reveal trailer, being replaced with a wordmark featuring the character's name. Unlike previous examples, this change was also present in the UK presentation. This also applies to Dragonborn.
• In Nintendo of Europe's tweet featuring the Mii Fighters that came with Kazuya, they separate Dante from Lloyd, Dragonborn and Shantae, with his line saying "Also featuring". This is based on the European box art of Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call (originally released in Japan as Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne), in which there is a label exclusive to on the boxart that infamously reads "Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry Series", to promote Dante's inclusion in the game as a guest character. On the day of the announcement of Dante's Mii costume, Shin Megami Tensei series developer Atlus also posted the seal itself, saying, "Heard y'all might need this," before jokingly remarking how the tweet "blew up", and promoting Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster, which features DLC based on the Director's Cut edition of Nocturne (which Lucifer's Call and the American release of Nocturne were based on).