“The game revolves around P.I. (Private Investigator) Dante and his one-man devil hunting agency ‘Devil May Cry’, which he runs in hopes of finding and killing the demons that killed his mother. Dante also has a twin brother named Vergil, whom we learn very little about during the course of the game. The story alludes to The Divine Comedy in the game’s areas (roughly resembling and representing inferno, purgatorio, and paradiso) as well as in some of the character names; however it is purely an aesthetic similarity, and indeed the game borrows from a very wide range of sources for inspiration. After a less than proper introduction, a woman named Trish, who bears a striking resemblance to Dante’s mother, convinces Dante to help her defeat Mundus, the Emperor of the Underworld, who is the leading antagonist of the game. The duo then sets off to Mallet Island, where Mundus’s resurrection is about to take place, and where the majority of the game plays out.” [. . .] —Wikipedia
See Also: devilmaycry.com and devilmaycry.org
Contributed by Charlie Russell-Schlesinger (Bowdoin, ’08)
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In Shin Megami Tensi 3 players also encounter the persona Dante from Devil May Cry and reference to the circles of hell.
Contributed by RJ Chatellier (Clemson University ’23)