Maxwell Redgrave

Controversial opinion, but I feel like Dante slowly started to go downhill after DMC1…

DMC3 Dante is cool, but a tad obnoxious. He’s a teenager and he is forced to mature throughout the events of the game. As relatable as I found him while playing through, something about it doesn’t quite compare to the journey of acceptance of his demonic side found in DMC1. It’s an emotional and heartfelt experience. Unfortunately, DMC3 led to the rampant mischaracterisation of Dante, so harmful to the character people still insist Dante’s entire character can be summed up to the goofball he was as an avoidant teenager suppressing his trauma. Not to mention, I think we all know Dante wasn’t even remotely the most memorable part of DMC3, with Vergil and Lady pulling focus.

DMC2 Dante I won’t say much on. Although I do love his relationship with Lucia and acknowledge he was going through a silent rough patch, it felt like an excuse to rush out an ultimately crappy game. He doesn’t convey much emotion at all until the end of the game when we see him finally showcase his personality as he soothes Lucia, assuring her that only those with a soul cry. Dante’s lack of a personality in this game means there’s not much for me to comment on, but in my own opinion I find his outfit a bit of a downgrade.

2007 Madhouse Anime Dante was peak Dante. He’s a mixture of that man he was in DMC1 and the man he will be in DMC2. He was forced to kill his own brother due the deceptions of the demon who murdered his mother and tore apart his entire family. He’s not doing okay, but he’s living. By the end, we see that same spirit from DMC1, giving cringey grand speeches about human souls separating them from the demons. This cringey hopeful Dante is his purest, most “Dante” form. This side was brought back out in him through Patty, the kid he took in and was raising as his daughter during this period of his life—before he reconnected her with her biological mother, wanting to keep her away from the demon world.

DMC4 Dante had likely regressed a little due to the loss of Patty. But after entering Fortuna and finding out that the brother he was forced to kill by Mundus actually sired a son before his descent into the demon world, Dante spirits are lifted. He still has family. Biological family. A connection to his brother. A reason to keep going. He falls into this routine with Nero one can only describe as typical goofy uncle behaviour. In typical Sparda DNA form, this doesn’t stop him from kicking Nero’s ass.

DMC5 Dante has gotten WORSE. He’s back to not having cash but to a crippling degree; bills unpaid. He’s back to being alone. Nero has his own branch of DMC and his own life. Lady and Trish presumably have their own lives but as his friends occasionally appear in and out of his life. Dante is still mourning the loss of Vergil and feeling guilt over having killed him—another reason he distances himself from Nero, as how is he meant to explain that? Patty calls, turning eighteen, and Dante refuses to go to the birthday party of his own “daughter”. In what can only be described as a ridiculous plot in retrospect, “V” enters with a job. Dante takes it, and is forced to push away Nero to the point of straining their relationship due to the realisation Vergil is alive… but has reached a manic stage and must be put down again. By him. Dante is once again back to telling ridiculous jokes to cope with everything going on. He goes off solo (mostly), and tries to keep everyone else out of it as much as he can.

Dante goes through this constant cycle of depression & guilt > hope > depression & guilt. Trish brings light and hope into his life. Lucia brings him a kind of hope. Patty brought him a sort of happiness. Lady’s humanity brought a certain kind of hope and reason. Nero brought hope and a fleeting happiness. But for the sake of Dante suffering throughout a game, all of this is stripped from him again and again. He’s stuck in a loop with no real conclusion for the sake of prolonging the franchise, even though Nero was supposed to take over as protagonist. From a writing perspective, this is frustrating. It’s the same thing on repeat. With Dante ultimately learning nothing to aid him in stopping this cycle. He is just given brief hope again and again to keep him going. A DMC6 resolution is sorely needed.