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about Dante's character devlopment

"A son cleaning up his father's mess, where have I heard this story before?"

Y'know, this line from 3 really rings true here. The reason why Dante has so little development over the (DMC) series is because none of the games are really about him personally.

Hear me out a second, with the exception of avenging his mother's death in 1, all of the classic games have been about Sparda or some outside force unrelated to Dante, more so than Dante himself. Even Vergil's presence in 3 was more about him wanting Sparda's power than his relationship with Dante.

That's one of the reasons why I loved the first dmc novel so much. Everything was so personal for Dante and I was so mad that dmc 3 made it non canon.
 
Deathstroke said:
It would've been nice to see an alternate universe with Dante being the evil twin...
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i agree the biggest flaw with DmC's story for me is that is was predicable
having already played the old games

with how DmC ends DmC2 would most likely just be a rehash of DMC 3's story

and then we would have exactly the same problem we have with DMC's story
not being able to move the story past a game that is Dante vs Vergil
even tho i liked DMC 4 almost nothing substantial happened in that game
we find out Nero exists and it's over

at least if Dante was the evil one this time things would have been a little more fresh
 
You have to question Dante's motives, his reasons for doing what he does. I always thought DMC Dante kills demons to avenge his mother's death. Except that was caused by Mundus, and by the end of DMC 1 he kind of got his revenge by sealing Mundus for another goodness knows how many years. What else is he essentially trying to seek? What else could/does build him as a character? He ultimately gets from crazy, immature, over-the-top punk in DMC 3 - quiet, brooding, and almost depressed looking in DMC 2. There's no doubt that he underwent some form of change throughout the series, but they never go into enough detail to fully understand why 3/1/4/2 Dante is the way he is. That's another reason why I liked DmC Dante. Okay his character development is rushed some could argue, but at least you know why he acts/behaves in a certain way, and what reasons he had for that change to have taken effect.
 
@LordOfDarkness that is a really good point

the thing is even tho i really enjoy the story of Devil May Cry

i am able to take and see each game / each Dante for what they are

DMC 1:is the one true Dante the original and best IMO

DMC 2:is the rushed unsure Dante as in the team who made him didn't have the time or a proper plan for him

DMC 3 is the apology/ second chance Dante
they made him to try and save the series and bring life back to the character

DMC 4: is the safe Dante
everyone loved DMC 3 Dante so the safest way to keep fans happy was to keep him like he was in DMC 3

and DmC is the take a huge risk and try something new fresh and different Dante
whether or not that Risk was a good thing depend on your opinion of him

me seeing things this way lets me appreciate each Dante for what they are

these are the different stages of Dante life as a characters

while it doesn't make allot of sense with in the Canon of the games it makes perfect sense when you look at the series as a whole

Capcom keeps changing Dante to what they think people want and to be fair they haven't been doing too bad of a job
the problem is how they keep changing Dante but ignoring the story reasons for why he is different

if capcom where to keep things safe DMC 5 Dante will most likely keep being the DMC 3 to 4 Dante since he is the most popular and well received one
unfortunately he is also the least complex one
 
LordOfDarkness said:
. I always thought DMC Dante kills demons to avenge his mother's death. Except that was caused by Mundus, and by the end of DMC 1 he kind of got his revenge by sealing Mundus for another goodness knows how many years.
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Except Mundus isn't dead and promised him he would be back. In the meantime, he keeps doing what he does best, slaying demons. N
Why do I study Computer Science? Why is my uncle a teacher? Because we like it, it's what we wanna do in our life. That applies to Dante as well, together with the whole revenge against demonkind thing.

Also, DMC3's ending tells us he promised Lady too.

"And he promised to help me hunt down the demons, even though he's part one himself."

Director Bison said:
unfortunately he is also the least complex one
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DMC2 Dante is the least complex one.

From most to least, it goes 3, 1, 4, Anime, 2. Considering canon material only, of course.

...Holy crap, that matches the games' timeline order. Illuminati confirmed.
 
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@Foxtrot94: I know he isn't dead, which is why I said resealed. That's bound to of given him some satisfaction. After all, Mundus was hoping to invade the human world, and Dante (with Trish's help) pretty much just bitch-slapped him back to the Underworld.

I understand that Dante had a bad upbringing, holds demons responsible for his mother's death, and promised Lady he'd make it his business to slay demons - but, my point was how the story just seems to throw itself at us without really going into too much depth about all of that stuff. You never get a sense of Dante being there because it's his mission, his sense of duty, at least not from 3 and 4 (in my opinion). And he's thrown into these problems by the hand of others. DMC 3 was because he was invited by Arkham, DMC 1 was because he was invited by Trish, DMC 4 was because he was informed by Lady, and DMC 2 was because he was invited by Matier (I think that's why he goes to Dumary Island). You see, he's not very well informed himself. He needs other people to do the legwork for him. There's no ultimate sense of a purpose since they're all pretty random adventures he goes on. That's why I said earlier that DMC 3 and 1 have that better connection, one in which he goes from playful to more serious. Then they did playful again in 4 (after 1), then serious again in 2. It's like some sort of pattern. But DMC 1 Dante was the most serious, it mattered to him.
 
LordOfDarkness said:
That's why I said earlier that DMC 3 and 1 have that better connection, one in which he goes from playful to more serious.
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I know, I've said it before. By the 3rd act of DMC3, he's more serious about stuff and he develops more of a sense of duty and empathy, which are traits that will carry over to what he is in DMC1.

It's also true that in 4 he feels kind of disconnected from his 1 self. Well granted, DMC1's finale does show a lightherted Dante too, actually. And following your line of thought that he feels like Mundus was pretty much taken out and not a problem anymore, his behavior should make sense to you as it's not personal anymore, and here we touch a point of agreement, cause I do want them to return to personal stories for him. That's part of the reason why DMC1 and 3 Dante are the most popular, and why they feel connected to one another.

I'd say that yeah, in 2 he's like he treats it like a regular job, but not one he likes doing, rather one that he's bored with, or at least uninterested in, which does make for the most baffling sense of disconnection from his other selves.

Overall I don't see why they should go on about why he does what he does, cause the first and third games already show it. The first one establishes that he's a demon hunter because of his past with Mundus and his family, and the third one that it's also because he's developed some sense of duty and awareness. So doing it again, not really necessary and would be redundant. Unless they come up with a story that makes him question if he wants to keep doing it or not, I guess. That kind of stories happen a lot. But I guess we're really slipping away from the topic, I'm sorry.
 
LordOfDarkness said:
You have to question Dante's motives, his reasons for doing what he does. I always thought DMC Dante kills demons to avenge his mother's death. Except that was caused by Mundus, and by the end of DMC 1 he kind of got his revenge by sealing Mundus for another goodness knows how many years.
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This is a point that confuses me since Mundus was sealed by Sparta 2000 years ago. This means either than Dante is over 2000 years old in the first game or that Mundus didn't directly kill his mother. According to the DMC intro, Sparta reigned over the human world until he died and they did not say how that happened.

I'd also like to point out that if you go by just the games, DMC1 Dante doesn't have much character. I like what was there but I think that Dante might have had more lines in DMC4... Just food for thought.
 
UncannyGarlic said:
This is a point that confuses me since Mundus was sealed by Sparta 2000 years ago. This means either than Dante is over 2000 years old in the first game or that Mundus didn't directly kill his mother.
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I don't remember, does any game state that it was Mundus directly? If that's not the case, then he would still be the sender of the demons that slaughtered Eva, making him ultimately responsible.
 
it is heavily implied that Mundus is the one responsible for Eva's death
after Mundus kills Griffon

"he is the one who killed my mother and my brother I'm sure of it"

but since it is true that Mundus is sealed away

i think the most logical conclusion is that Mundus sent him minions to kill Sparda's Family
but since lesser Demons don't seem that intelligent they killed Eva and never found Dante or Vergil

( or they kidnapped Vergil and Mundus enslaves his soul if were going with what DMC1 originally implies before DMC3 retconned the story)

@Foxtrot94 also i agree that DMC2 dante is the least complex what i ment to say is that DMC 3 to 4 Dante is less complex because they retconned DMC 1 Dante's personality since DMC 3 Dante was easier for them to wright

since without Hideki Kamiya they don't completely understand the original Version of the Character
 
DMC3 manga shows lesser demons pursuing Eva(and apparently killing her). Other lesser demons are seen fighting child Vergil in Vergil's deja vu.
Even so they were sent by Mundus, so it's only natural he was behind their killing.
 
I'm interested whether they will ever try to explain how Sparda died. It seems pretty crucial and I read some theories in a tread from 2006 but none really work that well. It's a huge can of worms which is probably best left alone unless they decide to do more origins stuff.

That said, I think that there is a lot of value in taking the DMC1 approach and handwaving the origins with vague references. The audiences' imaginations are a powerful tool when wielded well. I feel like DMC3 is loved more for explaining Vergil than for Dante's storyline, but I could be off base.
 
UncannyGarlic said:
I'm interested whether they will ever try to explain how Sparda died. It seems pretty crucial and I read some theories in a tread from 2006 but none really work that well. It's a huge can of worms which is probably best left alone unless they decide to do more origins stuff.

That said, I think that there is a lot of value in taking the DMC1 approach and handwaving the origins with vague references. The audiences' imaginations are a powerful tool when wielded well. I feel like DMC3 is loved more for explaining Vergil than for Dante's storyline, but I could be off base.
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i agree we already loved Dante because DMC 1

we didn't know we loved Vergil until DMC 3
IMO Vergil is so popular because no one wanted to see him go at the end of DMC 3 just like Dante

the tragic story of Vergil's own pride and lust for power ending with him becoming the pawn of the one person who ruined his life is why Nelo Angelo is my Favorite boss in the series so much emotion can be seen in that character even tho he never says a word
 
Sparda's demonic power probably overloaded to the point of collapse. It took out Sparda in the end.

Dante was willing to give up the Sparda sword for these reasons:

Not only because he wanted to (he didn't want it that much) -- and because of his grief for Trish (the sword became her tombstone), but also because he probably knew he would end up going insane when he saw Nelo Angelo charge up on his own power.

It was when Nelo removed his helmet that he traveled the road from deliriousness to complete and utter madness.

That power consumed him in a fiery vortex and made Nelo disintegrate on the spot. The same thing probably happened to Sparda himself.

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Dante knew that even with the power of Sparda, another demon would eventually step up to bring him down.

Nero was unable to defeat Dante then (during DMC4), but it would only have been a matter of time before the Yamato would've teleported and warped directly into his arm (due to Nero slowly becoming more powerful).

Even if it hadn't, Nero's arm probably would've ended up fusing with the Red Queen and Blue Rose, creating a temporary moveset that not even OP Majin Dante himself would be able to defeat.

Nero would fight Dante, and the DB ghost hand would probably have broken off from his body to crush the doppelganger (if Nero didn't have the Yamato, I mean).
 
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UncannyGarlic said:
I'm interested whether they will ever try to explain how Sparda died. It seems pretty crucial and I read some theories in a tread from 2006 but none really work that well. It's a huge can of worms which is probably best left alone unless they decide to do more origins stuff.

That said, I think that there is a lot of value in taking the DMC1 approach and handwaving the origins with vague references. The audiences' imaginations are a powerful tool when wielded well. I feel like DMC3 is loved more for explaining Vergil than for Dante's storyline, but I could be off base.
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To be honest, I don't think they'll ever explain how Sparda died. I think that's a question they'll leave in the dark since it has no real purpose to add. All that can be said about Sparda is that he was super strong, he made demons angry, he died, and people want the legacy.

And to stay on topic with the thread; do we even know how DmC Dante feels about his father?

We know Vergil possibly has some respect for him, but we don't really understand Dante's opinion on his dad. Did he respect Sparda's decision to put him in a foster home of demons, or was he angry with him through and through?

You can also apply this with DMC Dante; did he forgive his father after DMC3 since it appeared he didn't like him that much?
 
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