But Dante wouldn't be cartoonish if he lived in real world. Besides even if Dante looked like this in real world:
I'd think few people would laugh at him. They would stare and think "That guy looks weird" (clothes + weapons+ white hair).
But what about Dante in that picture is far from laughable and weird or uncool?
- He is in shape
- And he looks pretty good
So how is Dante a laughing matter if he appeared like that in real life?
We could drop the guns and sword.
Unusual but not laughable.
And if Dante existed in real world, his clothes would be more realistic. He was never made to reflect real people either, he has white hair, a sword, two guns and demon herritage.
If Dante appeared in real world dressed as he was in DMC 3 or DMC 1 (DMC4 was just poorly designed Dante):
Many people would look at him and think hes weird. I agree with that.
But people wouldn't necessarily laugh at him for that.
In our contemporary world we are used to cosplays, and we are used to people being different.And people who probably would burst out in laugh are people who are not in the cities or live a life where they are barely exposed to society.