Does Dante have depression?

[Cosmefulanito94]

Hello, first of all, sorry for my grammar. I am still learning English

Recently I saw(in social media) a lot of people that acclaim that Dante has depression or a depressed mood. Is there any info or confirmation in DMC5, interviews or book to validate it?.

I remember the popular theory where DMC2 Dante wasn't a jokester like his homologous(3 and 4) because was depressed for the dead of Lady or Trish or with the anime the reason with his poker-face (though does joke in the entire show) should be for the dead of Vergil (when the anime had two opportunities to does a reference of him in chapter 2 and 10).

Suprise Surprise, with DMC5 we know that nobody die and Dante continues making jokes.



In the actually, the people say that Dante has depression but not for his interpretation in second game but for the dead of Nell,Eva and Grue (something that existed since 15 years before the 5 and nobody talked about this characters and the novel isn't a lost media).

Funny thing: Everybody talks about the first novel but no one talks about CD-Drama where Dante cut-off Enzo's arm.



So, Dante is depressed canonically?

 

[V's patron]

It's more headcanon than canonical fact. Mental health awareness is more common in the 2020s than it was when Dante was concieved. So it's an interesting but unintentional interpretation.

If Dante had mental health issues, it probably stems from Eva's death when he was a child. That event is likely to leave its mark on Dante and Vergil. Trauma isn't something you cure but something you manage. So he would've learned how to cope with it by the time the series started.

Alot of that would depend on his upbringing. Before 3 retconned his past, he was amnesiac mercenary named Tony Redgrave. So it's possible he has some degree on undiagnosed mental health issues.

His flippant personality could work as a coping mechanism. Humor is a way to disarm tragedy.

Plus depressed people can have a sense of humor. One wouldn't negate the other. Some of his other traits like his laziness and general messiness of his office could also be symptoms of depression.

But the answer is that the creative team toyed around with an introverted Dante and his messiness and laziness were established early on and just overdone as a trait.

A missed opportunity with the reboot was that it could've explored Dante's mental health further. NT did interesting work with Hellblade as that game's protagonist has schizophrenia. So it would've been interesting if they did something similar with Dante.

It's something the series could deal with in future entries or not touch with a ten foot pole.

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

The anime could be put down to him putting down nelo angelo and thinking he has lost his brother all over again, that would effect anyone and he has human emotions after all.

As for 2, there is no good explanation

 

[V's patron]

DMC2 was made as a cash grab by Capcom. It was started before DMC1 finished and had a different director before Itsuno came on the project.

Dante's shift was the original DMC2 director wanted a quiet protagonist similar to Vampire Hunter D. It would've been better if that was a seperate character than incorporated into Dante's personality.

They ignored referencing 2 till 5's release and just put it after 1. So a potential remake could just followup on that thread or write Dante out completely.

 

[Taramafor]

In regards to 2, perhaps. He's struggling there.

In 1? Dunno much about 1. I know he faces Virgil though. Probably felt like he failed him.

In 3 he's using humor to cope. Lady sets him straight there. I can garuntee that life and death situations like that can get things to sink in. Since I've played with armed people myself.

In 4 Dante is a too quick to kill when it's about the ideals. Agnus proves this. Dante's good intentions backfire. He's going to have to pay the price for that at some point.

In 5 Nico is surely Agnus's daughter. Dante tried to stop Nero facing his own father. The IDIOT. If Nero had fled like a coward then he'd be living with regrets. Good job Nero went "**** this."

Virgil was able to pull himself back together because he knows what it's like to suffer on your own. He's forged not just through hell, but also apathy and nothing. Dante doesn't know what that's like. So he's, as Virgil states, "Incompetent". Virgil isn't joking. He's very serious, even if in humor at times.

If there's a DMC6 I'd like to see dante get challenged and called out more. V sort of does it in 5. Now that Dante is with Virgil perhaps he'll have some contrast to help even him out a bit. His good intentions are bound to circle back at some point.

Imagine what Nico goes through. "Asshole daddy". Yea. And now he's dead. Killed when desperate for answers trying to learn when he spoke the truth about humans. Dante just wanted to be "in the right". He could have done better there. Perhaps his desperation to get to Yamato caused him to act in haste. Which helps explain why he gives it to Nero. even Dante knows he can't handle it.

It's pretty good stuff. And Nero knocking sense into him like that? That's bound to hit home. That face smack. Hahahahaa. "You listen here deadweight." I love it.

 

[Benny]

Dante's depression is a fan theory to give his character more depth. It would make sense for Dante to have mental issues but I think people dwelled a bit too much in negativity. I remembered Dante's optimism and his "Devil never cry" line after finished dmc1, not the "depression" fandom liked to mention about Dante.

I also find this theory annoying cause it will inevitably lead to dragging Vergil along. Dmc1 is about Dante's love for his mother and him trying to uphold his father's legacy, sure he wanted to avenge for Vergil too but tbf Vergil wasn't even his top priority in game, and yet things people mainly talked about dmc1 besides gameplay are incest joke and "Dante lost his brother again". Seriously people in fandom keep sticking Vergil and Dante together like a pair of horseshoe crabs whether it's ship or non-ship, Jungian shadow, ying-yang bs. Why he's sad? Vergil isn't here. Why he's not serious?Vergil isn't here. Why he's happy? Vergil is here. Dmc5 and its end worsened this.

Yes, I know the irony of my comment

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

I am starting to think now it may also be sheer boredom and not just depression. Dante loves a thrilling fight, and nobody outside of his brother or mundus could challenge him post DMC1.

 

[Benny]

@ef9dante_oSsshea lol such a fate of OP characters if they're not dead. But outside of in-universe reason, I have a theory when fictional characters started to act jaded and less lively than their first appearance, it may be a hint people who were in charge of franchise at the time were going through fatigue. Sequel after sequel, eventually writers would run out of ideas and lose their passion for the project, it sadly reflected on characters somehow. Dmc5 had Dante sit in the dark in Devil May Cry, no one called him for a job. Chris Redfield's current state. Ace Attorney with Phoenix's phase in AA4, Apollo Justice is also seen as the worst game in AA fandom.

 

[blackblur187]

more so boredom than so depression

 

[V's patron]

i have depression and i could recognize some of the symptoms.

but the depression diagnosis is headcanon meant to fix two and the anime's story problems and it fails to do so.

i dont mind rewriting either entry but depression wouldn't be the way to go.

 

[Dante's Stalker]

Maybe he's not depressed.
Maybe he's ADHD. He's either hot, or cold. Kicking ass, or slothing about. Doesn't want to work, but loves what he does. Complicated but simple. He's the extremes of opposites, a walking paradox. Pretty much ADHD in a nutshell.

 

[berto]

No. I don't believe so, even for a second.
The variations don't estem from canonical reasons, it's from development woes. The director of 2 had a different idea of what a cool character is like than the team in 1. He didn't believe that a cool character was animated or lively. Cool, to him, was a quiet, stoic badass type. The staff of 3 decided to go with a Japanese action B movie style of cool like you'd find in Ryuhei Kitamura or Yuji Shimomura movies, like Versus, Aragami and Death Trance (Doesn't have to be a Tak Sakaguchi movie, these just all happen to have him in them). I know Itsuno supervised the anime and Morohashi wrote the screenplays but I Dante is just a bore in it. He lacks the energy that Langdon brings to the games, even if he does voice him. The anime suffers from a misinterpretation of the character as much as 2 does.
The problem isn't that he's depressed, he's not. The problem is that people want things to make sense and even if they know that it's because the series sufferers from too many different renditions so, even knowing that, they want a canonical excuse for it all to fit. There isn't one. We can headcanon till the cows come home, got milked and then put to pastures but the fact is every time Dante is different is because different people have different interpretations.
One of the things I love about Dante is the fact that he doesn't let his tragic past get him. Yeah, it affects him; drives him, even, but it doesn't define him. Honestly? People just want him to be depressed because a tragic character is more romantic than one who isn't.

 

[Benny]

One of the things I love about Dante is the fact that he doesn't let his tragic past get him. Yeah, it affects him; drives him, even, but it doesn't define him. Honestly? People just want him to be depressed because a tragic character is more romantic than one who isn't.

People enjoyed Son Goku and some similar characters like him just fine without overcomplicate them. And not only dmc, I saw this phenomenon in a few fandoms already. Wonder what's the recipe to make people start to headcanon more stuff than what the original told them

 

[Taramafor]

I am starting to think now it may also be sheer boredom and not just depression. Dante loves a thrilling fight, and nobody outside of his brother or mundus could challenge him post DMC1.

Boredom is feeling like you "have" too. And the symptom of a closed mind.

I never get bored. Catch: Let yourself get that bored to overcome boredom. Dante didn't do that. Virgil might have though.

For Dante it's more a responsibility. The problem is his good intentions can backfire at times. Like with Nero. eg: "Desperation".

He's also known to be a **** listener at times. Like with Agni and Rudra. "Shut the **** up". It's reasons like that, that he drops the ball with Nero. Because he never learned to listen to learn more. Got to knock sense into the idiot. Just ask Nero.

Worse yet, Dante is ALWAYS the one trying to provoke a fight. You can see this best with Virgil in Devil May Cry 3. Who is it that points the sword first in the second Virgil fight? Who is it that pointed the gun in the first fight on top of the tower? Who is it that said "I have to stop you even if it means killing you" in the 3rd fight?

Nero gets it. Nero isn't acting from "Desperation". Nero is going "Make it mean more then destruction".

We don't see what happens off screen. In Devil May cry 3 it seems Dante is trying to keep it together even if he struggles. It's only when Mary sets him straight that he stops joking and starts taking it more seriously. The fake smiles and happy masks are not fooling me. Didn't fool Mary either. Still one of my favorite cutscenes and music. Just to see the smug smile wiped from Dante's face.

Dante isn't one to wallow. But he knows he's got flaws. Virgil knows how dangerous that is. Hence his "incompetent" quotes.

Despite what Virgil went through, he never made mistakes like "I pretend to know better for you without asking". Dante is more at risk of CAUSING depression then suffering from it. Without even meaning to do it. That's the problem. "Good intentions". Counts for nothing if you can't even ask. Or answer. Agnis asked him a question. Dante chose destruction. Credo died in Dante's arms. He's going to be affected by all this. Who wouldn't be? It's everything Dante can do to keep it together. "Stop Virgil" is probaby being repeated in his head on a loop.

Dante let desperation drive him. You can see it in fight with Urizen too. How they debate with each other. They both get desperate. Urizen might have been on the floor, but Dante was very close to making the biggest mistake he could ever make. If he had killed Urizen/Virgil there he'd never forgive himself. That's exactly why he was trying to stop Nero.

And some people say Devil May Cry has no story. There's plenty. Just got to know what to look for.