The anime was a promotional product for DMC4 (it was released when DMC4 was being made and promoted). It was never meant to be taken seriously like the games.
Plus the DMC1 novel stated Dante likes strawberry sundae.
Ah yeah, you're right. I forgot the sundaes were in the novel. Damn it's been awhile since I've read that T_T I dunno, I guess they just played it up way too much in the anime, which made it feel like that whole stupid quirk it came off as to me. I suppose it's sorta like how "pizza!" has become this huge thing about Dante, when...well...he's never really been as Ninja Turtle about it as we always joke. He doesn't really seem to love pizza anymore than any other broke-ass guy living on their own.
The sundaes, though, they played it up like "Haw haw~ See? The big badass loves a kid's dessert, he's really just a lovable scamp." It just...rubbed me the wrong way.
Or maybe it was just the cherry on top of the overall sh!t-sundae I thought the anime was
Even though the plot of DMC3 was about the Sparda's Sons Arkham was still the primary villain and Lady played a crucial role in not just his plan and even advancing the plot and her role even links her to Sparda and the history of DMC making her more of an important character that fits into the overall lore of DMC.
Well yeah, but the thing is that Vergil was the primary antagonist. We played as Dante, and overall Vergil was the antagonist to him - the narrative was still about the struggle between the two brothers. Arkham was a supporting character, too, who gets his little moment to shine before...turning into a blob and getting shot in the face by Lady. You could totally remove Arkham and Lady from DMC3 and the overall story stays intact (it would actually go much quicker
). But no, Arkham's knowledge allowed Vergil and him to raise Temen-ni-gru.
All in all, it doesn't necessarily
matter how crucial someone ends up being to the overall lore, it's about who the narrative revolves around. In this case, the narrative is about Dante, Vergil, and their legacy. Others may fit into that in whichever way, but it's Dante and Vergil's story, and Lady and Arkham are the supporting cast.
Err mah gerrd Nervan!!