Dante

Dante is a recruitable guest character from the Devil May Cry franchise.

Appearances

 * Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: Fiend Race

Personality
Dante expresses wry amusement over the irony of a demon hunter being hired by a demon, calling it the "the joke of the century". Even so, Dante goes through with it, intending to see how the ultimate war against God in this chaotic world would eventually play out.

Profile
He is only available in the updated release of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, titled Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax. In the re-release of Maniax, titled Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Chronicles alongside Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon, Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV replaces Dante as the recruitable character.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Dante is first mentioned in pre-Conception Tokyo, where he is described by a passerby as a "strange foreigner wearing a red cloak and carrying a big sword". After the Conception, he survives, and his role of being a demon slayer comes into light. Dante makes his first formal appearance after the Demi-fiend escapes the Shinjuku Medical Center, where he observes how different Tokyo looks from what he originally heard (according to him, the current state of Tokyo doesn't look like a place where one would get sushi).

He would later show up in Ikebukuro, territory of the Mantra demons. After the Demi-fiend prevails in the Mantra's court of strength, the Candelabrum of Sovereignty starts to flicker wildly. Noticing the change, the Demi-fiend soon sees Dante, who leaps down from the highest level of the tower and suddenly forces him into battle. After taking some lumps, Dante loses the drive to fight for the moment and takes an interest towards the Demi-fiend, as the latter doesn't seem to be like any demon he has encountered before. Dante reveals that he was hired by an "old man" to hunt down some demons, including the Demi-fiend. He also holds a Candelabrum in his possession, but was never told what it was for. Dante then proceeds to tell the Demi-fiend to keep himself alive, as the former would like to experience the thrill of the hunt again when he becomes stronger.

Dante slowly became suspicious of his employer's motives, and begins investigating the Labyrinth of Amala on his own. Upon venturing to the Third Kalpa, the Demi-fiend will encounter Dante once again, and the latter attempts to convince him to turn back. If he says no, Dante will begin to chase and attack him throughout the Kalpa, playing a practical cat-and-mouse game where he resets door switches and guards' exits for the next two levels. If he catches the Demi-fiend, Dante will attack him or his minions, then retreat. The Demi-fiend would then find himself back at the entrance hall, where Dante will taunt him from afar. He would then engage him in another battle should the latter slip through his fingers. Following a final encounter, Dante launches one last attack but intentionally avoids stabbing the Demi-fiend, instead impaling the adjacent wall. After explaining his reasons for doing so, Dante hands over the Candelabrum in his possession, dismissing it as "nothing but junk". He would then go on ahead to resume investigating the Labyrinth of Amala. Upon the Demi-fiend's entry to the Fifth Kalpa, Dante will be waiting within and would begin explaining the details he gathered about the old man's actual intentions. He would then offer his services to the Demi-fiend, as he no longer feels like continuing to perform the dubious tasks asked of him by his former employer. If he decides to hire Dante, the latter would flip the same double headed coin from Devil May Cry 2. Should the Demi-fiend call tails, Dante would take half of his total Macca. But if he calls heads, he will only have to pay Dante a paltry sum of 1 Macca. Dante will remain on standby at the entrance of the Fifth Kalpa if the Demi-fiend decides not to hire him just yet.

Dante's presence is permanent upon joining the Demi-fiend's ranks. He can never be fused with any demon, and despite having an entry in the Demonic Compendium, Dante cannot be summoned from there during a New Cycle.

Unfortunately, after joining the Demi-Fiend's party, Dante effectively no longer has a role in the story other than being another party member and his ultimate fate is never shown in any of the endings.

Trivia

 * Dante's artwork in the game is based on his appearance in Devil May Cry 2, presumably because Devil May Cry 2 was the most recent game in the series coming around the time of Nocturne.
 * When Dante uses his Showtime attack, the B, A and S style prompts from Devil May Cry 2 ("Bingo!", "Are You Ready?" and "Showtime!" respectively) appear onscreen.
 * Consistent to his appearance in Ikebukuro, after Dante has joined Demi-fiend and is summoned to the party, he is the only one who will remain unscathed if player leaps off from 60/F to the ground at Mantra Headquarter.
 * In exchange for Dante's presence in Nocturne, Kazuma Kaneko was brought into the Devil May Cry 3 project to design the Devil Trigger forms of Dante and Vergil.