Dante

Not to be confused with the reboot version of DmC.

“	Though a fight every now and then does make life a little more interesting, don't ya think?	”
—Dante, Devil May Cry 4

“Jackpot!”

Dante is one of the central protagonists of the Devil May Cry franchise, and the main playable character for the majority of the games in the series. He is the second son of the demon Sparda and the human Eva, and the younger twin brother of Vergil. Dante is a paranormal mercenary, private investigator and vigilante Devil Hunter dedicated to exterminating evil demons and other malevolent supernatural forces; a mission he follows in pursuit of those that killed his mother and corrupted his brother.

In the Fiction Wrestling Multiverse, Dante is a professional wrestler currently signed to Apex Caliber Wrestling on the Ignition brand.

Dante is best known for his time with X-Treme Crossover Federation, where he is a former XCF Ultimate Champion, a two-time XCF Unleashed Champion, a three-time XCF Dynamic Duo Champion and a two-time, longest-reigning, inaugural XCF Chaotic Duo Champion, both won alongside Vergil as the famous Sons of Sparda. He’s also won the 2002 Rider War, a Grand Slam Champion and a Triple Crown Champion. Along with his twin, Dante is a 2010 XCF Hall of Fame inductee.

Background

• Series: Devil May Cry
• Species: Demon / Human hybrid
• Age: 44
• Height: 6’3”
• Weight: 225 lbs.
• Companies: (Currently) APEX (Formerly) TCW, XCF
• Debut: 1996
• Status: Active
• Billed from: (Residing in) Phoenix, Arizona
• Allies: Lady, Trish, Nero (nephew), Strider Hiryu, Frank West, most Capcom and Marvel characters
• Rivals: Vergil (brother), Arkham, Ragna the Bloodedge, Jason Krueger
• Twitter: @StylinShowstopper

Personality

As seen in the beginning of the series, Dante is incredibly flippant, casually mouthing off to even the most powerful of demons, and he generally enjoys showing off and taunting his adversaries as often as he can. Dante also displays a fearless, almost disinterested attitude towards incredibly dangerous situations, such as assuming Trish simply had to use the bathroom after crashing through his office’s front door on a motorcycle, being attacked by the Seven Hells in his office, being swallowed by Echidna, and effortlessly shrugging off wounds such as a head shot or impalement numerous times, the latter of which happens quite frequently for the Devil Hunter.

While maturing as time goes by, Dante never loses his care-free, devil-may-care attitude, except in Devil May Cry 2. He can be serious when the situation calls for it, but still maintains an overall laid-back demeanor during tense situations, and is never without a witty taunt or comeback. Although seemingly shown at times to be uncaring or callous, Dante maintains a very strong sense of justice like his father, and prefers to fight fairly, never fighting humans or opponents weaker than him. He can be counted on to do the right thing, even if he makes humorously cynical quips about it the entire time.

Unusually, while he has displayed discomfort with his own demonic side, only coming to accept it following the events of Devil May Cry 3, Dante has little qualms about accepting demons that choose the side of good and admires their desire to be human, such as Trish and Bradley. Though Dante is quoted as believing that “Humans are often worse than demons.” in the anime, he refuses to kill full-blooded humans for any reason, believing it would make him no better than any Devil, be it human or demon.

In addition, Dante values family and friends very highly. He cared deeply for his mother and, despite their differences and conflicting ideals, for his brother, Vergil. Even after their intense duels and conflicts in Devil May Cry 3, Dante still tries to prevent Vergil from willingly falling off the edge of the Human World into the Demon World, and goes so far as to cry over losing him. While he says little about his father, Sparda, over the course of the series, Dante has been shown to clearly maintain a level of respect for him. While bitterly claiming that “[he doesn’t] have a father” in his first fight with Vergil in 3, he grows to respect him as the game goes on, proudly claiming in his final duel with his brother that not only do they carry Sparda’s blood, but his soul as well. He also makes a humorous comment towards Arkham, smugly claiming that his father wasn’t as hideous as his twisted form, citing his own physical appearance as proof.

Dante also enjoys fighting, shown when he restrains himself from using his full potential. In Devil May Cry 4, he was clearly going easy on his nephew Nero in their first confrontation, soundly defeating him in their second clash. In the anime, Dante gets bored with fighting weak opponents and only finds entertainment in fighting strong opponents who will give him a challenge. Dante’s enjoyment of fighting was further emphasized in his pre-battle banter with Echidna, asking her if she agreed with him that “a fight every now and then makes life more interesting”.

Despite Dante’s handsome appearance, he often has terrible luck with women, a condition he ironically reflects upon in Devil May Cry 3 when Lady shoots him through the head after he attempts to keep her from falling.

In the animated series, Dante was shown to be one of the few characters in the Devil May Cry series to swear. Dante was frequently shown to be foul-mouthed, repeatedly swearing in almost every episode.

Despite verbally complaining about being in debt, Dante seems quite willing to perform missions solely for the good of them, and rarely, if ever, enforces payment from poor clients. In fact, Dante will typically refuse any job he dislikes, regardless of how much it pays, but will immediately take on any paranormal cases, especially those involving demon hunting, with or without pay. Many of his clients take advantage of his hospitable nature, and leave bills for property damage caused during the mission instead of paying for his services. Interestingly, despite his claims of having low funds, Dante still manages to pool up enough money to buy pricey luxuries for his office, such as a pool table, a jukebox, and several expensive pieces of musical equipment such as electric guitars.

He often borrows from Lady, attempting to gamble to repay his debts to her and others. However, he has extremely bad luck with all forms of gambling, even something as simple as a coin toss, and loses any game not involved with demon hunting. As a result, he is deep in debt to Lady, and is often left with no money at all after she takes her cut. However, in Devil May Cry 4, Lady actually pays him a small, single role of bills for his “assistance”, implying that he no longer owes her money.

Dante has a fondness for pizza, usually with “everything” on it, and while he complains about olives, he always ends up with them on his pizza. In the animated series, he is also shown to favor strawberry sundaes as well, with it being pointed out on several occasions that those two foods are seemingly all he eats. He also has a fondness for alcohol, specifically whiskey.

Personal life

Dante is the twin brother of Vergil, though by a few minutes or seconds, he was born the youngest of the family. Dante is currently in a relationship with Shizuka Marikawa.

In wrestling

Dante is an all-rounder, using whatever style in his arsenal and does it in the most over-the-top way possible. He’s best described as a showoff, performing high-risk moves that can be considered over-the-top and amplified with flash and style. When Dante steps in the ring, he enjoys displaying his arrogance to his opponents and rubbing them off the wrong way to get in their heads. Nonetheless, if they turn out to be better than expected, Dante will not hesitate to pull out all the stops and prove why he’s coined the “Stylin’ Showstopper.”

Finishing moves

• Dante’s Inferno (Kneeling Reverse Piledriver) – XCF; 1996–2010, used rarely thereafter
• Devil May Cry (Spinning Lifting Inverted DDT)
• Devil Trigger (TCW) / Spear – used as a signature move thereafter in APEX
• Jackpot! (Superkick, with theatrics)
• The Rebellion (Fireman’s Carry Cutter)

Signature moves

• 180° spun flare transitioned into a Leg Drop
• Air Hike Moonsault (Double Jump Moonsault)
• Atomic Drop
• Backhand Chop
• Beast Uppercut (Running or Pop-up European Uppercut)
• Clothesline
• Devil Trigger (Diving Elbow Drop) – APEX
• Ebony & Ivory (Diving Double Axe Handle)
• Falling Neckbreaker
• Figure-four Leglock
• Flying Forearm Smash followed by a kip-up
• Hip Toss
• Inverted Atomic Drop
• Leaping Reverse STO
• Lucifer (Over-the-top-rope Suicide Dive transitioned into a Spear)
• Modified Figure-four Leglock – adopted from Shawn Michaels
• Multiple kick variations
  • Beehive (Multiple wrist-lock assisted high-speed roundhouses followed by an axe)
  • Capoeira-style Handstand
  • Capoeira-style Spinning Heel
  • Dropsault
  • Double Mule
  • Enzuigiri
  • Gilgamesh Full House (Springboard Corkscrew Roundhouse)
  • Killer Bee (Diving Thrust)
  • Leg Lariat
  • Missile or Standing Drop
  • Pelé Kick (Backflip)
  • Slingshot Baseball Slide
  • Multiple armbreaker variation
  • Diving
  • Double knee
  • Inverted /hammerlock combination
• Multiple Suplex variations
  • Belly-to-back
  • Belly-to-belly
  • Bridging / Release / Snap German
  • Double Underhook
  • Gutwrench
  • Leg-hook Saito
  • Snap, sometimes into the turnbuckles
  • Super
• Piledriver
• Russian Legsweep
• Running Knee Strike to the head of a seated opponent
• Scoop Slam
• Skin the Cat
• Slingshot Crossbody
• Springboard 450° Plancha
• STO Backbreaker followed by either a Russian Legsweep or a Neckbreaker Slam
• Stylin’ DDT (Springboard Moonsault onto a standing opponent transitioned into an Inverted DDT)
• Swinging Neckbreaker
• Tilt-a-whirl counter transitioned into a Russian Legsweep

With Vergil

Double team finishing moves

• Aided Piledriver
• Con-chair-to – adopted from Edge and Christian
• Jackpot!! (Double Superkick)
• Superkick by Dante into a Force Edge by Vergil
• Super Jackpot!!! (Flapjack into a Superkick) – innovated
• Sword of Sparda / Devil Sword Sparda (Multiple Double Cutter variations)
  • Handspring
  • Jumping, sometimes as a sudden counter to a midair opponent
  • Rope-hung
  • Pop-up
• Yamato’s Inferno / Rising Star (Tombstone Piledriver hold by Dante flipped into a Cutter by Vergil)

Double team signature moves

• Aided Snap Swinging Neckbreaker
• Double Flapjack, sometimes dropped into a hangman
• Double Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope
• Double Spear
• Figure-four Leglock (Dante) / Sparda Lock (Vergil) combination
• The Power of the Sons of Sparda (Double Vertical Suplex Powerbomb)
• Scoop Slam by Dante onto Vergil’s knee
• Sidewalk Slam (Dante) / Falling Inverted DDT (Vergil)
• Stack-Superplex
• Stereo Slingshot Crossbody Plancha
• Vergil monkey flips Dante, who performs a splash

Managers

• Vergil

Wrestlers managed

• Vergil

Nicknames

• “The Crimson / Devilish / Stylin’ Showstopper”
• “The Icon (of Devil May Cry)”
• “The Strongest Demon Slayer”
• “The Legendary Devil Hunter”
• “Son of Sparda”
• “Legendary Dark Knight”
• “Tony Redgrave” (alias)

Entrance themes

• “Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)” by Rob Zombie (TCW)
• “Shout at the Devil” by Mötley Crüe (APEX; April 12, 2013 – present)
• “Flash of the Blade” by Avenged Sevenfold (APEX; May 26, 2013; used with Vergil as part of Sons of Sparda)

Championships and accomplishments

Apex Caliber Wrestling

• ACW United States Championship (1 time, inaugural)

Fiction Wrestling Awards

• Television Match of the Year (2014) vs. Vergil for the ACW United States Championship on July 6, 2013

X-Treme Crossover Federation

• XCF Ultimate Championship (1 time)
• XCF Meteor Championship (2 times)
• XCF Unleashed Championship (1 time)
• XCF Dynamic Duo Championship (3 times) – with Vergil
• XCF Chaotic Duo Championship (2 times, inaugural) – with Vergil
• Rider War (2002)
• XCF Grand Slam Champion
• XCF Triple Crown Champion
• XCF Hall of Fame (Class of 2010)

Trivia

• Dante had a long five-month reign with the XCF Ultimate Championship.
• Dante has the longest reigning record as a former XCF Chaotic Duo Championship alongside Vergil at their first reign.