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Going
purely off the games, Dante's personality leaves much
to the speculative imagination. Though most everyone
can agree on the superficial simplicity of his
character, the depths of his soul are uncharted
territory. One thing we can be certain of, however, is
that he likes pizza. He prefers the night and tends to
sleep clean through daylight.
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...Showoff
Dante is best known for his flamboyant arrogance and
reckless abandon in battle. He will tease, mock, and
downright provoke enemies regardless of size, shape,
or rank. This startling lack of fear has been
attributed to either complete confidence or suicidal
tendencies, possibly both. Dante is certainly not
afraid to die, but he also doesn't issue empty
threats. He has yet to meet an enemy he could not
defeat. From lowly demonic puppets to the mighty
rulers of Hell itself, Dante has felled enemies that
even his legendary father had trouble with. He is very
proud and would never ever beg or show weakness to an
opponent, no matter how tight of a spot he's in.
Remarkably, for all his cockiness, Dante has never
actually started a fight himself. Though he
certainly enjoys hunting demons, he almost prefers
lounging around alone in his office and coming out
only when forced into action by supernatural invasion.
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...Protector
But being a trash-talking attention-whore does not constitute a
personality.
To quote the novel, "his |
ironic smile and
theatrical red coat were mere props, protective masks,
to put his enemies on the defensive and himself at
ease." Dante is very
much about protection: protecting himself from others,
protecting others from himself. In his rare
instances of sincerity, he strives to protect those he cares about
at the cost of his own life. But he does not let them
close. Those that get close to him wind up getting
hurt and hurting him in the process. He knows he can not change the
past, but he still seeks to avenge those he had lost,
even if he has to plow through all of Hell to do so.
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...Mama's
Boy
Dante is haunted by deep childhood trauma of
being powerless to save his mother who died protecting
him from demons. Ever since then, he had devoted his
life to honing his mind and body through the path of a
fighter so that one day he could find the ones
responsible for her death and serve as her champion.
He loved his mother very much and, in a way, his
fixation with her untimely demise had stunted his
emotional growth and made him unable to adequately
relate to other women. It doesn't help that they keep
trying to kill him, either. Nevertheless, he seems to
have a great respect for women since, whenever he's
not trying to protect them, he follows them without
question.
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...Father's
Heir
His relationship with his father is conflicted at
best. Growing up a half-blood, he was shunned by
humans for his unnatural abilities and looked down
upon by demons for lacking raw power. The pressure to
dispel accusations of his inadequacies was always in
the back of his mind. But no matter how hard Dante
fought to prove himself, always he lived in his
father's shadow. Demons from across the realms sought
him out to settle old grudges or to try their luck
against a spawn of the traitorous demon knight, and
Dante was rightfully bitter about that. However, given
time, he came to accept the responsibilities of his
heritage.
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...Innocent
When you strip away all the oppressive layers weighing
down on his soul, I believe you will find a
fundamentally innocent, sweet, carefree, and perhaps
even naive little boy who has been dragged through too
much blood. He shows glimpses of this side by trusting
people he shouldn't, giving them second chances,
staying loyal to those he cares about, and
being nice to those that didn't give him a reason to
be mean. Even his own brother, who explicitly tried to
kill him on several occasions, Dante tried to save.
There is a deeper logic for many of Dante's actions.
To quote the novel, "few people would ever
consider him quiet or thoughtful, but they didn't
know his true nature." Back when he was a freelance mercenary, he
revolutionized the underworld by making it unpopular
to kill needlessly. Perhaps this is the self that
Dante protects
from the harsh world he is part of. Perhaps it is his
link to his humanity.
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...Wild
But it
would be unwise to forget that he is also part
demon. Wild and unpredictable, with spontaneous
urges alien to mankind. If his human side is what he
seeks to protect, then perhaps his demonic side is
what he seeks to protect others from, which goes a
long way towards explaining why he prefers to work
alone. Of course, practically speaking, few could
keep up with Dante. He does not want them to get in
the way as much as he wants to avoid them becoming a
liability. He asks for no favors and expects to give
none in return.
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and ATLUS. They are NOT of my
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