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

History

In the Devil May Cry games, Dante is a paranormal investigator, Devil Hunter, and sole proprietor of the shop, Devil May Cry.

Over two thousand years before the events of the first game, the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda betrayed the Demon King Mundus and his demonic army, sealing away the demon world from the human world along with most of his power into his sword.

Though many of his actions are shrouded in uncertainty, Sparda, later in the human world, would fall in love with a human named Eva who would later give birth to Dante and his twin brother, Vergil. Dante would obtain his sword, Rebellion, as a keepsake from his father, while Vergil would obtain the sword, Yamato.

While Dante and Vergil were children, his family came under attack by Mundus' demons. Eva was killed and the two brothers were separated. This event would eventually cause Dante to become a Devil Hunter and open his business as a result, believing that he would eventually find who was responsible sooner or later.

Dante's demonic heritage grants him many abilities and his exploits since opening Devil May Cry are many, including stopping his brother from reopening the gate between the human and demon worlds as well as sealing Mundus away for a second time.

Appearances

Personality

Personality wise, Dante appears to be a mix of his Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 2 incarnations, with the same somber, reserved personality he possessed in the second game while also appearing to have a sense of humor and excitement similar to the first game. This is best expressed in his wry amusement over the irony of a demon hunter being hired by a demon, calling it "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.

Interestingly, his battles with the Demi-fiend seem to bring out a large amount of enthusiasm from Dante not seen in Devil May Cry 2. In their first fight, Dante takes the time to ask the Demi-fiend if he's "having fun", following it up with an excited "me too". This bears more of a resemblance to his personality in Devil May Cry and even later games, expressing excitement at the conflicts he has.

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

"A demon hunter who ventured into the Vortex World. He wields his two guns, Ebony and Ivory, along with his trusty sword, Rebellion. It is said that he has the blood of the legendary demon warrior Sparda in him."
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Compendium
Dante in Tokyo

Dante survives the Conception.

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 a brief exchange, 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 at Mantra H.Q.

Dante introduces himself to the Demi-fiend.

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.

Stinger

Dante spares a surprised Demi-fiend and explains that killing him would only advance the old man's agenda.

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.

Stats

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

Race Level HP MP
Strength 20
Magic 18
Vitality 20
Agility 18
Luck 10
Fiend 36 2400
3000
Reflects Absorbs Void Resists Weak
- - Expel/Death/Ailments Physical/Magic -
List of Skills
Skill Cost Effect
E & I 3 MP Small physical damage to one foe. Hits four times.
Rebellion none Medium physical damage to one foe.
High critical rate.
Provoke 0 Buffs physical attack and decreases defense both by 2 levels, all foes
and restores user with some MP.
Holy Star 10 MP Removes all debuffs from all allies.
Bullet Time 10 MP Medium physical damage and 30% panic to all foes. Undodgeable.

Race Level HP MP
Strength 24
Magic 22
Vitality 24
Agility 22
Luck 14
Fiend 60 5000
3000
Reflects Absorbs Void Resists Weak
- - Expel/Death/Ailments Physical/Magic -
List of Skills
Skill Cost Effect
E & I 3 MP Small physical damage to one foe. Hits four times.
Rebellion none Medium physical damage to one foe.
High critical rate.
Provoke 0 Buffs physical attack and decreases defense both by 2 levels, all foes
and restores user with some MP.
Holy Star 10 MP Removes all debuffs from all allies.
Bullet Time 10 MP Medium physical damage and 30% panic to all foes. Undodgeable.
Whirlwind 25 MP Heavy force damage to all foes.
Roundtrip 25 MP Heavy electric damage and 15% shock to all foes.
Stinger none Medium phys-almighty damage of high critical rate
and chance of instant kill to one foe.
Showtime 40 MP Heavy almighty damage to all foes.

Race Level HP MP
Strength 25
Magic 22
Vitality 22
Agility 25
Luck 16
Fiend 80 612
306
Reflects Absorbs Void Resists Weak
- - Expel/Death/Ailments Physical/Magic -
Obtainable Plot related
List of Skills
Skill Cost Effect Level
E & I 3 MP Small physical damage to one foe. Hits four times. Innate
Rebellion 9% HP Medium physical damage to one foe.
High critical rate.
Innate
Never Yield Passive Equipper survives one fatal blow with 1 HP remaining per battle. Innate
Provoke 0 Buffs physical attack and decreases defense both by 2 levels, all foes
and restores user with some MP.
Innate
Holy Star 10 MP Removes all debuffs from all allies. Innate
Intimidate Interrupt Urges an indecisive demon to accept the deal. Works best for user
who is 10-level higher than the target or adult/adolescent to child target.
Innate
Roundtrip 25 MP Heavy electric damage and 15% shock to all foes. Innate
Whirlwind 25 MP Heavy force damage to all foes. Innate
Bullet Time 10 MP Medium physical damage and 30% panic to all foes. Undodgeable. 81
Stinger 12% HP Medium phys-almighty damage of high critical rate
and chance of instant kill to one foe.
82
Son's Oath Passive Multiplies equipper's all damage dealt by 1.5. 83
Showtime 40 MP Heavy almighty damage to all foes. 84

Gallery

 
DanteConcept
Concept Art from the Nocturne Maniax artbook
 
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne - Dante 01
Dante in Nocturne
 
Dante
Dante as he appears in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.
 
Dante Nocturne
Dante in Nocturne

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.
  • Dante's unique Provoke skill acts much like Taunt, but is also a subtle allusion to taunting in Devil May Cry. Taunting in Devil May Cry will raise Dante's current Style rank as well as replenish a portion of his Devil Trigger gauge. Similarly, using Provoke in Nocturne will restore some of Dante's MP along with the usual Taunt effect.
  • For unexplained reasons, Dante avoids using his Devil Trigger transformations throughout the game. In Devil May Cry these represent his true demonic powers and drastically enhance his strength, speed, agility. and vitality regeneration. He also neglects using the Majin Form available to him in the (at the time) recent entry Devil May Cry 2, which channels his ultimate, demonic potential.
  • 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. This design of Dante's Devil Trigger would later be used in both versions of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 while Vergil's Devil Trigger would also appear in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Project X Zone 2, and Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, with Kaneko being credited appropriately.

External Links

  • Dante's article on the Devil May Cry Wiki


Maniax - Maniax Chronicle Edition - HD Remaster - Nocturne Konton - Novel
Characters
Playable Demi-fiend - Dante - Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV
Non-Playable Yuko Takao - Chiaki Hayasaka - Isamu Nitta - Hikawa - Jyoji Hijiri - Futomimi - Sakahagi - Heeho - Lady in Black - Lucifer - Kagutsuchi - Gouto-Douji
Locations
Vortex World Shinjuku Medical Center - Shibuya - Cathedral of Shadows - Amala Network - Ginza - Harumi Warehouse - Great Underpass of Ginza - Ikebukuro - Mantra's Headquarters - Labyrinth of Amala - Kabukicho Prison - Ikebukuro Tunnel - Asakusa - Asakusa Tunnel - Mifunashiro - Assembly of Nihilo: Marunouchi - Obelisk - Yoyogi Park - Amala Temple - Yurakucho Tunnel - Northern Temple - Diet Building - Bandou Shrine - Tower of Kagutsuchi
Music
Soundtracks Original Soundtrack - Maniax Soundtrack - Deluxe Pack Incence Disc - OST (US)
Themes Boss Battle - Normal Battle - Normal Battle ~Large Map~ - Normal Battle ~Town~
Archives
Terminology Candelabrum - Conception - Kagutsuchi - Macca - Magatama - Magatsuhi - Manikin - Reason - Yahirono Himorogi - Order of Messiah - Cult of Gaia - Demonic Sponsor - Shadow Vortex - Nightmare System - Terminal - Great Will
Lists Demons - Bosses - Skills - Items (Vending Machines) - Merchandise - Translations - Trophies - Patches and Updates - Steam Profile Items
Other Best of Demons
Other Media
Events Shin Megami Tensei Online Live 2021: Reason of Music
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