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Why DmC's Dante is a Bad Character (Video)

Why DmC's Dante is a Bad Character

A few people posted this video I made yesterday in the "DmC: Devil May Cry sequel teased" thread. I thanked them for the mention, and later got a couple of messages from people saying they saw and liked the video.

I decided to make a thread about it because it seemed to really resonate with a lot of people.

If you're wondering why a lot of people are grumpy about this character, I think this video does a good job of explaining it. This is the way I see it, and my reasoning for thinking so.

I hope you like it.

Also, I didn't mention his hair!
 

Khezu

Member
All that video did was make me want another bully.

That part where he punches the dude would have been kinda alright if he signed his name instead of writing fuck you or fuck off w/e it was.
 
I never followed this game despite my love for the series, but watching your video made me glad I didn't, I mean wow, how could they do this to Devil May Cry ?

Poor Kamiya :(
 

Takao

Banned
I never followed this game despite my love for the series, but watching your video made me glad I didn't, I mean wow, how could they do this to Devil May Cry ?

Poor Kamiya :(

As Kamiya would say, use your brain.
Because Capcom obviously isn't using their's.
 
All that video did was make me want another bully.

That part where he punches the dude would have been kinda alright if he signed his name instead of writing fuck you or fuck off w/e it was.

The song was suggested by one of my followers on twitter. I really have to give her mad props.
 

grebby

Member
That was a good video. I agree with pretty much everything you said. When you really look at the Dante NT has made it is just really no where near as cool as they're aiming for. A real shame, the ending hit hard. I don't think we'll ever see the Dante we're all familiar with, and hey I enjoyed playing as Nero in DMC4. A real shame we'll never see further refinements with that character.

I really want to like DmC, I absolutely adore the DMC franchise but the radical departure is just making it impossible for me to really be excited. I mean the story is just painful, I cannot believe NT actually did that for their story...

I still want to try the game for myself, hopefully the PC version will not have a locked frame rate.
 

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
The biggest message I've gotten from this game is that those of us who prefer the Japanese style of video games are pretty much fucked here in the next few years.

Great video, OP. :D
 

Takao

Banned
Uhhhh is this game out yet?

No, which does make some of the things the OP criticizes in his video a little more than just premature. Judging the quality of the game's writing from some short scenes, and trailers? But ultimately the coolness factor this Dante exudes is a pretty obvious mis mash of what Ninja Theory intended to do, and what they were forced to do after Capcom heard complaints.
 

Nibel

Member
Video is good, we had enough trailers and videos and statements and shit to understand in which direction they want to take the character. And yeah, feels like "trying too hard" to me.

We don't know how the game will turn out, but I can't really sympathize with the protagonist so I hope it will be good in other parts to make me forget about him.
 
I found this video premature, you have good points but I rather have a video like this after playing the game than after watching some trailers.
 
That social commentary plot sounds worse than what they did to Dante.

The biggest message I've gotten from this game is that those of us who prefer the Japanese style of video games are pretty much fucked here in the next few years.
Pretty much.
 

grebby

Member
I was wondering the same, but I think it isn't.

Why is there so much footage of the game?

Capcom has been showing a pretty ridiculous amount of footage each time there's been an event like E3, Gamescom etc... Capcom Unity usually demos around 30 minutes of footage, each event has usually had a new level shown.

I guess they're trying to win people over? It's kinda strange.
 

StuBurns

Banned
I haven't seen anything from this game since around when they announced it, but some of that gameplay looked rad.
 

V_Arnold

Member
You have put way too much thought behind pure speculation, imho.
Let us get back to this a few months later when we actually get to play through the story, and see if he is good as a character or bad. This, of course, only applies to those that did not already decide whether he is "bad" or not.

(Also, I do not find him unlikable. So a few of your points automatically go out of the window. It is the result of treating a character's "quality" as an intangible constant, floating around in the middle of our universe, not something as a subjective value :p)
 
I appreciate the effort; don't really quite agree with your sentiments though which seem based largely on speculation.

Would be interesting to see if your conclusions are proven to be right though once the game is released.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
"Fuck you"
"No, fuck you!"
"FUCK YOUUUUUUUUU"


Someone actually wrote that script, you know. Someone who got paid for writing it.
 

V_Arnold

Member
"Fuck you"
"No, fuck you!"
"FUCK YOUUUUUUUUU"


Someone actually wrote that script, you know. Someone who got paid for writing it.

Yeah. It is not like that scene was obviously a parody of how people got engaged in fights after a few beers. No. Not even a chance! It must be because Ninja Theory hates DMC and hates the whole genre, and just abuses it! ...
 

sublimit

Banned
I agreed with everything you said until 5:31.
I don't think NT "don't respect Dante's legacy" it's just that they are not appropriate for the job.They just don't know it and they probably never will.I'm sure that in their eyes they believe that they are giving great characterization to Dante and they are really proud for that.

Seriously the only one who's to blame here is Capcom.
 

Vice

Member
I don't think the Dante in DmC is worse than the original personality-wise just different. I think the side of Dante that has been shown more recently can mesh with the side of Dante that was shown early on. You can have a character that's a mopey chain-smoker who tries to look cool or imposing.
 
Yeah. It is not like that scene was obviously a parody of how people got engaged in fights after a few beers. No. Not even a chance! It must be because Ninja Theory hates DMC and hates the whole genre, and just abuses it! ...

What makes you think that that was the reasoning behind it?
 

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
Holy shit, the writing is BAD. All those "Fuck You" & whore mother made me cringe.
 

sublimit

Banned
Yeah. It is not like that scene was obviously a parody of how people got engaged in fights after a few beers. No. Not even a chance! It must be because Ninja Theory hates DMC and hates the whole genre, and just abuses it! ...

lol
Man this game is deep...
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Its the anti-establishment rebel with a cause crap that actually makes nuDante a far more clichéd character and worse than the original. Trying so hard to be cool, fuk da police, and all that other rubbish that when people find it "cool" you just have to cringe.

What made original Dante feel more of a breath of fresh air in an age of DARK AND EDGY PROTAGS, at least from DMC3-4, was that he was just the class clown. His nigh on invincibility had made him this lazy, laid back, partying joker who was never really affected by anything until it really mattered to him. You could spear the guy with a fucking small museum of barbed weaponry and he'd just laugh it off, while nuDante is punching bouncers in the face because he's not on the guest list.
 
I haven't seen anything from this game since around when they announced it, but some of that gameplay looked rad.

That's pretty much exactly how I feel now. I've largely ignored the coverage of the game after the initial showing but I clicked the video in the thread and thought it looked pretty awesome. I've played/beaten some of the other Devil May Cry games but I don't hold Dante in my heart as some amazing character so I don't mind a different interpretation.

So...umm...thanks for making me interested in the new DmC.
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
That's pretty much exactly how I feel now. I've largely ignored the coverage of the game after the initial showing but I clicked the video in the thread and thought it looked pretty awesome. I've played/beaten some of the other Devil May Cry games but I don't hold Dante in my heart as some amazing character so I don't mind a different interpretation.

So...umm...thanks for making me interested in the new DmC.
Well the thread isn't about the gameplay...
 

V_Arnold

Member
What makes you think that that was the reasoning behind it?

Because it is not realistic to imagine a scenario where writers are banging their heads against the wall for a few days only to later come up with three lines of "fuck you". If you think it is a realistic outline of how that got into the game, then you obviously already made your mind up about this.

I also do not understand why a young man who realizes that everything around him is a lie and is a demon-controlled mind-dumbing tyranny cannot say fuck you, punch bouncers in the face and simply stay freaking angry at "the world" at large, but trying to do some good as well in it. It is perfectly reasonable.
 
My stance: this dude seems pretty amusing and likeable and would be interesting as his own character, but he's not Dante. They should have just made him a new character and been done with it.
"Fuck you"
"No, fuck you!"
"FUCK YOUUUUUUUUU"


Someone actually wrote that script, you know. Someone who got paid for writing it.
It made me smirk. Good enough.
 

graywolf323

Gold Member
Because it is not realistic to imagine a scenario where writers are banging their heads against the wall for a few days only to later come up with three lines of "fuck you". If you think it is a realistic outline of how that got into the game, then you obviously already made your mind up about this.

you give writers way too much credit
 

antitrop

Member
"Fuck you"
"No, fuck you!"
"FUCK YOUUUUUUUUU"

I'll laugh my way through the dialogue while mostly ignoring it and enjoy the gameplay.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Because it is not realistic to imagine a scenario where writers are banging their heads against the wall for a few days only to later come up with three lines of "fuck you". If you think it is a realistic outline of how that got into the game, then you obviously already made your mind up about this.

Writers challenging themselves to create the most dark and edgy scenes possible settling on "Fuck you" as the punchline to at least three of the game's story scenes is more than a little sad though.

I see enough little oiks out and about on a Saturday night each week to not want to see one glorified as a videogame main character.
 

Vice

Member
Writers challenging themselves to create the most dark and edgy scenes possible settling on "Fuck you" as the punchline to at least three of the game's story scenes is more than a little sad though.

I see enough little oiks out and about on a Saturday night each week to not want to see one glorified as a videogame main character.

I think they want Dante to come off as a bit of a prick though.
 

sublimit

Banned
The funny thing is that Capcom actually hired NT mostly for their characterization,story and cinematic qualities.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Its the anti-establishment rebel with a cause crap that actually makes nuDante a far more clichéd character and worse than the original. Trying so hard to be cool, fuk da police, and all that other rubbish that when people find it "cool" you just have to cringe.

oh god

Old Dante was a douche with white hair, a red trench coat, who was half-demon. It's just as emo-fantasy as this new version.
 
Capcom has been showing a pretty ridiculous amount of footage each time there's been an event like E3, Gamescom etc... Capcom Unity usually demos around 30 minutes of footage, each event has usually had a new level shown.

I guess they're trying to win people over? It's kinda strange.

It makes them look desperate.
 
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