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Dante is the fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series published by Capcom. The character and Devil May Cry are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over nine million copies worldwide as of 2008 and currently spans four video games. Dante has been featured as the main protagonist in the first three games of the series and is a playable character in the fourth game. The character also appears in several Devil May Cry novels and manga volumes, and is featured in a 2007 anime.

Dante is a mercenary dedicated to exterminating demons, a mission he follows in pursuit of those that killed his mother and corrupted his brother. He is the son of Sparda, a demon of great power that rebelled against the demon emperor and defeated his army. As a result of his demonic heritage he possesses numerous superhuman abilities which he uses in combination with a variety of weapons to accomplish his goals.

Conception and creation
The character Dante is based on a prophecy of a real man who is the son of a mystical assassin. Sent to America as but a child, he grows as a normal person, until his 21st year of life, when his powers awaken. Being only 4 months into marriage, it is hard for him to balance his family life and the training he has to complete. His existence, along with the help of his wife, will forever alter the course of the future, and the world itself.

Characteristics
Dante is a mercenary who specializes in paranormal cases, preferring those that call for demon slaying. He is muscular, has silver hair and is usually seen wearing red clothes. Dante's arsenal usually consists of firearms and melee weapons, including "Ebony and Ivory", twin handguns that never have to be reloaded, as well as a variety of swords. The guns are hand-made with "For Tony Redgrave, By.45 Art Warks" written on them. He has supernatural powers, as a result of his half-demon heritage. This gives him the ability to enter a temporary transformation called "devil trigger". In this state, Dante possesses more speed, steady health regeneration, and further abilities with his equipped melee weapon.

Dante is one of the twin sons of Sparda, a demonic knight who chose to side with humanity and drive back an invasion of the human world by demons 2000 years ago. After Sparda's death, Dante and his brother Vergil were raised by their human mother, Eva. When Dante and Vergil were still children, the family was attacked by demons, resulting in Eva's death. This event lead to Dante's commitment to hunting demons in pursuit of those that killed his mother.

Devil May Cry video games
thumb|left|Dante in Devil May Cry 4 In the original Devil May Cry, Dante is hired by Trish, a mysterious woman who looks similar to his deceased mother, to stop the return of the demon king Mundus. However, she is actually setting up events for Mundus' agents to kill Dante as he makes his way to Mundus himself. During the course of the game Dante is also reunited with his brother Vergil, who, under the control of Mundus, attempts to kill him. Trish eventually betrays Mundus to save Dante, and the pair work together to lock Mundus in the demon world. Afterwards, they become partners in Dante's demon slaying business, now re-named "Devil Never Cry".

After the success of the first game, Capcom immediately began development of its sequel, Devil May Cry 2. Hideki Kamiya, who directed the first game, was not involved in the sequel's development and the new creative team took a different direction. Dante's character was changed so that he spoke little, and his cocky attitude was largely absent. He also had a habit of flipping a coin to make his decisions.

Set some time after the first game, Devil May Cry 2 focuses on aiding the character Lucia in defeating Arius, an international businessman who uses demonic power and seeks to conquer the world. At the end of the game, Dante must go into the demon world to stop a major demon from escaping, but the gate closes behind him and he is trapped. With no way back to the human world, Dante heads even deeper into the demon world on his motorcycle. There is an extra scene after the credits, in which Lucia is sitting in Dante's office when she hears a motorcycle outside and rushes out to see who it is.

The third game, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, serves as a prequel to the first game and features a younger and cockier Dante. While developed by the same team that did the second game, Devil May Cry 3 was much better received than the previous installment for staying true to the original. He has considerably more dialog during cutscenes, and players can verbally taunt monsters during gameplay. In the story, Dante is drawn out by his brother Vergil, who is attempting to reopen the portal to the demon world in order to obtain the full power of Sparda, which remains on the other side contained within the sword Force Edge. Along the way, Dante encounters Lady, who is in pursuit of her father Arkham, who is working with Vergil but has plans of his own. In the end, Dante claims ownership of the Force Edge, while Vergil chooses to remain in the demon world. Dante matures considerably during the game and, inspired by Lady's courage and commitment to her own family, continues his demon hunting business with a greater sense of purpose. They become partners, and he decides to call his shop "Devil May Cry", after something Lady had said to comfort him.

Released in 2008, Devil May Cry 4 is the first game in the series not to feature Dante as the primary playable character. Dante is seen as an antagonist, at least at first, by the game's lead character, Nero. Shortly after the halfway point in the game, player control switches to Dante, until he rescues Nero, who the player then uses for the game's final showdown. By the end of the game, Dante and Nero seem to have a mutual respect towards one another.

Other appearances
thumb|right|Dante's appearance in the second game, recreated in the Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne RPG

Dante has playable appearances in several games outside of the Devil May Cry series of games. In the Viewtiful Joe series, also created by Hideki Kamiya, he appears in the PlayStation 2 version Viewtiful Joe and the PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. Dante is also seen in the last panel of Jedah's ending in Capcom Fighting Jam. He appears as an enemy and optional ally in the North American/Maniax (director's cut) release of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. There is a Dante character card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter DS. He was also set to appear in Soulcalibur III, but did not make the roster. Dante also appears in many other pieces of media based on the video games. These include two light novels, the Devil May Cry 3 manga, a comic of the first game published by Dreamwave Productions and a anime called Devil May Cry: The Animated Series.

Cultural impact
Devil May Cry has been cited as the beginning of a sub-genre of action games called "Extreme Combat", which focus on powerful heroes fighting hordes of foes with a focus on stylish action. The game has also been described as being the first game that "successfully captured the twitch-based, relentlessly free-flowing gameplay style of so many classic 2D action games". The series has become the game against which other 3D action games are measured, with comparisons in reviews of games including God Of War, Chaos Legion, and Blood Will Tell. Dante's confident and fearless attitude have gained him widespread popularity. He was ranked third among the "Top Ten Coolest Video Game Characters" list of Screwattack. His design and personality received praise from numerous reviews, including this quote from IGN: "a dark anti-hero kind of guy even a down-in-the-dumps, disgruntled teenager would love". The popularity of the Devil May Cry series lead to a line of Devil May Cry action figures produced by Toycom. Japanese company Kaiyodo produced a similar line for Devil May Cry 2 and a Devil May Cry 3 Dante action figure.