BLACKSWIPE
"Waiting for one's arrival."
Well, after playing through DmC: Devil May Cry a few times, and reading the comics, I've managed to gain a better understanding of him. I've taken all material canon to DmC that I could get my hands on and looked through it with great care. I've examined all that I could with Dante, and I've taken all of his back-story into account.
Everyday I see people constantly making rather unsavory remarks about Dante, "Oh he's just a stupid piece of **** punk." Well, I've looked into that a little more.
Dante is a very troubled young man, faced with both internal and external conflict. He is still a young guy who never really knew who he was his entire life, completely alone within his life. He couldn't remember anything but his name nor did he have anyone to depend on as a child. Take a moment to think about that.
As a child, he was completely alone, lost in his own darkness. We as children need someone to depend on and trust, its programed within our brains, out very minds. We need that sort of comfort for when we're sad, or for when we're scared. We need someone to guide us and for someone to just be a parent. Hell, a wide variety of social animals need that sort of contact. Wolves, Lions, birds. As a young boy, Dante had all of that ripped from him within the blink of an eye. Dante didn't have any of that.
Dante never had any of that, he watched his own mother get her heart ripped from her chest, watched his home burn, and was seemingly abandoned by his father...only to have his memory wiped and unable to know anything but his name. He was left in a disgusting orphanage with demons, demons who tormented him his entire life. He was abused, tortured, and utterly confused throughout his entire life. He had to run from place to place, living on the streets and fighting for his life. All alone, confused, angry, and tormented.
People often say that, "Oh if he was tormented, he shouldn't be acting like that!" This bothers me to the core whenever people exclaim this, online and offline. People are different, in their mannerisms and behaviors. Some people can handle and cope with stress in different ways then others. Some handle stress alto better that the next person would. People are not all the same, therefore people do not have all of the same ways of dealing with stress as you would or any other person would. Dante was able to cope with his life through pleasure seeking, Dante is closely follows the "Pleasure Principal."
He seeks to cover up his pain with pleasure, he wants to numb his pain with something that feels good. Having sex and partying is a stress-reliever for him, it allows for him to cope with his stress. When your stressed, what do you want to do? Do you cry it out until it feels better, do you eat your favorite food, or do you play your favorite video game? Those things that were in that last sentence and even stuff that wasn't, allows for you to cope with what you are dealing with. Its a stress-outlet, a way to make yourself feel better. Sure, it may come off as edgy to you, but to me his drinking and partying is what keeps him going. He feels like he has no purpose in this world, nothing better to do than rot away in a trailer at a carnival.
Now on to his behavior. After all that pain and suffering, Dante has managed to cope with and accept what his life has become. In a way, his jackassness (not a word) is a self-defense mechanism developed to hide his inner flaws and suffering. He acts that way to cover up how he is really feeling, to shield his inner weakness from the outside world. It's similar to that of DMC4 Dante, he acts this way to shield himself.
Dante in reality is actually a very unsure person of himself, not sure on who he wants to be. He lived his life day to day, dealing with the endless punishment and torment of the demons. He used alcohol and women as a way to cope with his inner pain, that feeling of emptiness and being alone. Living in a trailer park and having no real friends, takes a toll on the mind. He hides his inner fears and sadness by his 'tough-guy' facade, shielding himself from essentially himself. Though when he met Vergil, he gained a sense of hope once more...even if it was small.
As the game went on he learned how to trust Vergil and became friends with Kat. He didn't care for anyone but himself at the start, his life and those around him meant nothing to him. He'd rather blow it off on alcohol and women in a trailer park. Though as he worked with Vergil and Kat, he gained a sense of togetherness. They were his family, they gave him a reason to keep going. He gained more as a person and in turn, actually gave a **** about the world around him.
Now I'm not sure about you guys, but I think that Dante is a pretty good character if you ask me.
I think DmC: Devil May Cry has earned its self a permanent place upon my shelf of infinite games.
(7 games.)
