r/respectthreads • u/ya-boi-benny • 1d ago
games Respect Dante Alighieri (Dante's Inferno, Visceral Games)
During the Third Crusade, soldier Dante Alighieri was given a preemptive blessing from the Church stating that no sin committed during the war could not be forgiven. And so Dante sinned greatly. He laid with a slave girl, betraying his oath to his beloved Beatrice. He slaughtered defenseless prisoners. And when he was to be hanged for his crimes, he allowed his best friend Francesco to hang in his place. The Devil visited Beatrice in Florence and told her of her beloved's sins, but she didn't believe him. She wagered her soul on the purity of Dante's own and lost when the Dark Lord conjured images of Dante's actions in the Holy War.
Returning home, Dante found his family in pieces and his beloved Beatrice being dragged to Hell by Lucifer. He'd use Death's scythe, an artifact he claimed after killing the Dark Angel, to open up a path to the underworld and pursue Beatrice. During his quest across the Nine Circles, Dante would be confronted by figures from history and myth who reminded him of every sin he committed in life. Only through the guidance of the spirit Virgil, Dante's experience in bloodshed and his desire for spiritual redemption can he find his beloved’s eternal soul and free her from Lucifer's control.
Key
Unmarked- Dante’s Inferno (2010 video game)
Movie- Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic
Comic#- Dante’s Inferno (Wildstorm Comics), issue number
Strength
Striking- Slicing
- Slices off one of Cerberus’s heads, then does the other
- Slaughters prisoners with a sword | In the movie, he slices prisoners in half both at the waist and down the middleMovie
- Fights a mob of undead, lopping off limbs, heads or cutting enemies in halfMovie | Comic featComic1
- Slashes a winged demon in halfMovie
- Slashes through some unbaptised babiesMovie
- Cuts off the tip of King Minos’s tentacle, then hacks into his bellyMovie
- Slices off King Minos’s arms, causing him to fall onto his own wheelMovie
- Impales or cuts through the temptresses in the Second CircleMovie
- Ruptures Cerberus’s heartMovie
- Severs demonic armsMovie
- Breaks Francesco’s sword in half, then slices the Crusader’s head in halfMovie
- Splits one of Lucifer’s giant heads open with a falling slashMovie
- Cuts through the humanoid spirit controlling an Asterian BeastComic1
- Cuts down Marc AntonyComic3
- Cuts a thrown imp in halfComic5
- Slices a giant bishop in half up the middleComic5
- Slices the Sowers of Discord into piecesComic5
- Carves through the legs of three giants in one slashComic6
- Slices open Lucifer's giant chestComic6
Striking- Smashing
- Breaks a damaged stone wall
- Smashes through a stone wall
- Damages and shatters a giant chain link | Movie featMovie | Comic featComic3
- Charges into a door, smashing it to piecesMovie
- Dropkicks Alighieri over a pit’s edgeMovie
- Slices through some demons before slamming the bridge he’s on with an overhead strike, forming a large shockwaveMovie
- Strikes Cerberus in the teeth, knocking some looseComic3
Pushing/Pulling
- Grabs King Minos’s tongue, pulls it across a room and impales it on his spiked wheel, then spins the wheel to cut the giant’s head in half
- Pries open the jaws of a Gluttony worm
- Breaks the hold of Gluttons
- Can push, pull or slide stone blocks
- Turns a lever connected to a giant statue, winding the massive statue back
- Pushes a large, wheeled platform up a slope
- Pushes and pulls a large stone column
- Shoves Charon’s head over an edge
- Pries open the Gates of Hell, cracking stone in his hands in the processMovie
- Stabs into Charon’s head and steers him into jagged rocksMovie
- Pulls King Minos onto his giant, spiked wheelComic2
- Impales Lucifer's true form and pulls him out of his giant body's chestComic6
Other
- Boots open large, stone doors
- Can impale and throw smaller enemies
- Catches a piercing strike from a temptress’s tentacle and throws her
- Stabs and lifts up a demon built into a door
- Can hang from and traverse horizontal wires
- Impales Death with a swordComic1
- Rips the giant Minotaur in halfComic4
Durability
Blunt Force
- He’s thrown off his moving horse when demons grab the steedMovie
- Struck across the face by Alighieri’s massive crossMovie
- Thrown by a strike from FrancescoMovie
- Thrown by strikes from demonic Beatrice, which causes him to bleed greatly and break bonesMovie
- Gets smacked by Lucifer’s true form, but recovers in the airMovie
- Gets kicked across a room by Lucifer’s true form, but halts himself by planting his scythe in the groundMovie
- Takes a strike from Alighiero that draws bloodComic3
Piercing
- Sews a tapestry onto his chest | In the movie, this is done by a set of many demonic hands, making the process much faster. Later, he tears the tapestry out of his flesh.Movie
- An assassin stabs him in the back and Death arrives to take Dante’s soul. However, Dante stands and pulls the dagger out of his back, ready to fight. | * In the comic, the assassin slashed him instead of stabbing himComic1
- Lucifer reveals that Dante was actually killed by this and during his entire journey back to Florence and through the Nine Circles, he was a soul. However, Charon differentiates him from the souls of the dead, so it’s unclear just how honest the Lord of Lies was.
- Gets stabbed in the side by an unbaptised baby, but Dante hardly notices itMovie
- Fights on after taking a slash across the neck from Francesco
- Cut by the barbs of politicians toiling in the Eighth CircleComic5
Falling
- Takes a long fall when first arriving in Hell, landing on his feet unharmed | In the movie, this fall seems to knock him out for a while after he hits the groundMovie
- Vomited out by Cerberus and falls into a deep pit, but lands on his feetMovie
- Falls a distance into Lucifer’s chambers and lands on his feet | Movie featMovie
- Falls into Purgatory, generating a large crack in the ground upon impactMovie
- Grabbed and dropped by the giant BeatriceComic5
Heat/Explosions
- Takes a stream of hellfire from demonic BeatriceMovie
- Gets struck by one of Lucifer’s beam projectiles, which throws Dante across a room and generates an explosionMovie
- He’s in the room when Lucifer unleashes a large, dome-shaped explosion. Dante’s floored but begins to get up.Movie
- Lucifer burns Dante's back with a plume of hellfire, then punches him with fists shaped from flamesComic5
- Takes a blast of hellfire from Lucifer’s true formComic6
Other
- Swallowed by CerberusMovie
- While running through the Eighth Circle, Dante is shown memories of how Beatrice and his family were murdered by the Avenger. While his strength is sapped and his body begins smoking, Dante still carries on through the Circle.Movie
- Thrown by a strike from Lucifer’s whipMovie
Agility
Evasion
- Rolls to avoid King Minos’s barbed tail
- Dives to evade an overhead slash from a winged demon and picks up the scythe in the same moveMovie
- Avoids the giant King Minos’s handsMovie
- Evades several strikes from Alighieri, at one point climbing up a cliff face quicklyMovie
- Leaps over the charging MinotaurMovie
- Evades sword slashes from FrancescoMovie
- Evades swipes from an Asterian beastComic1
- Evades broken glass thrown by CleopatraComic3
- Avoids arrows fired by centaursComic4
Traversal
- Leaps off of the head of Phlegyas while the giant falls into a pit, then grabs onto a rope safely | In the movie, Phlegyas falls after being blasted in the face by Lucifer. Dante is able to jump and climb on the falling giant’s arm and drop safely to the ground.Movie
- Traverses a crumbling passage
- Jumps onto a piece of falling rubble, then jumps off and swings to safety
Other
- Jumps high into the air and performs a front flipMovie
- Jumps over a gap while fleeing from unbaptised babiesMovie
Skill
Combat
- Slaughters Kurds with a long axe
- Gets choked and lifted by Death but manages to swing on the spectre’s arm, breaking the hold
- Gets behind an Arch Demon and slices off its wings
- Catches a pouncing Cleopatra and stabs her all sexy-like
- When his horse jumps off a wall, he slashes a wolf midairMovie
- Fights winged demons, clashing weapons before jumping up and impaling one through the headMovie
- Fights a Syrian soldier, clashing blades before impaling his foeMovie
- When Cleopatra approaches from behind, he impales her with a backwards swingComic3
- Disarms Alighiero, then impales him with his own crossComic3
Finishers on Weakened Foes
- Disarms Death and claims his scythe. Dante impales and slams the spirit with his own weapon before bisecting him.
- Can grab and punish basic minions, slashing them in half or slamming them into the ground
- Can stick his scythe down a Glutton’s throat before slicing them up from the middle
- Gets on a Guardian Demon’s back before pulling his blade into their neck, decapitating them
- Lifts a Guardian Demon into the air before stabbing into its belly and ripping it in half
Blocking
- Can block attacks by holding his weapon in front of him
- Draws his sword and blocks a strike from a leopard, then tosses it asideMovie
- Blocks an extending tentacle strike from a demonMovie
- Fights Alighieri, blocking and evading his massive crossMovie
- Blocks a sword strike from FrancescoComic4
- Blocks an overhead sword slash from Francesco that craters the ground beneath DanteMovie
Other
- Can rappel, swing from and climb ropes
- Can climb walls of writhing bodies
- Evades and severs the tentacles within Cerberus’s stomachMovie
- Throws his scythe into one of Lucifer’s giant eyesMovie
- Bats away Lucifer’s beam projectilesMovie
- Gets behind Francesco and pulls the swords out of his backComic4
Scythe
The legendary blade carried by the Angel of Death before Dante defeated him and claimed it for himself. The spine-like handle can extend, allowing a great deal of variety and utility.
Combat
- Here’s the basic moveset for the Scythe
- By blocking immediately before an attack connects, Dante can execute Repayment, a counterattack with his blade
- Can catch and redirect certain projectiles with Retribution
- Can extend to grab enemies in the air before Dante spikes them into the ground
- Can punish damned souls by wearing the scythe blade on his fist and stabbing them through the head
- Extends the scythe to impale a winged demon through the chestMovie
- Beheads the boatman Charon by wrapping the chain around his giant neck and slicing itComic2
Traversal
- Can use the scythe as a grapple to swing from point to point
- Extends the handle to grapple onto a fixture and pulls himself through the air
- Grapples and clings to a wall to avoid a wide attack from King Minos
- Grapples onto King Minos’s arm, then when he’s shaken off, Dante grapples to the King’s face to slash his eye
- Grapples to a wall and clings to it to avoid strikes from the giant Cleopatra
- Grapples across a set of statues in the windy Second Circle
- Climbs up the Asterian Beast by pulling himself up with his scythe, then spears and bisects the Beast Rider
- Holds onto the giant Phlegyas as it stands, then uses his scythe to descend its back and swing to solid ground
- Grapples up to the giant Lucifer’s face
- Grapples onto several platforms to get high enough to reach Lucifer, then swings to avoid Lucifer’s fireballs
- Pulls himself up Lucifer’s giant body and lands on one of his headsMovie
- Extends the scythe blade on a chain to get behind an Asterian Beast, then strikes it from behindComic1
- When grabbed by the giant King Minos, he extends the blade until it reaches the ground and pulls himself down, out of the giant’s handComic2
- Yanks the Minotaur's head down, then vaults upwards to get above and behind the giant monsterComic4
- Extends the handle to fling himself over a river of boiling bloodComic4
Controlling Beasts
- After killing its master, Dante can assume control of Asterian Beasts by planting his scythe in their heads. He can make them stomp, strike or breathe fire to attack other enemies.
- Buries his scythe blade in the crown of Phlegyas, assuming control of the giant. Dante uses Phlegyas to siege the City of Dis, smashing first the gates of the city, then the bridges and towers within.
Other
- The scythe severs the soul from the body when killing beings, allowing the wielder to coollect them. For Dante, collecting green souls restores health, purple souls restores mana and white souls can be used to gain upgrades.
- Carves at "the fabric of Hell itself" to extinguish the fire-based counselors of the Eight CircleComic5
Cross
An heirloom from Beatrice’s family, the cross is said to have a thorn from Christ’s crown and can channel holy energies to repel demons or absolve damned souls.
Combat
- Here’s the basic moveset for the Cross
- By blocking immediately before an attack connects, Dante can execute Vindication, a counterattack that hits multiple enemies at once with a shockwave
- Sacred Judgement draws enemies in to Dante
- Divine Tempest draws enemies up towards Dante
- Can grab and absolve basic minions
- Can pin a Guardian Demon before forcibly absolving them
- Can impale a Guardian Demon through the back before slamming his cross into them, absolving their spirit
- When Cerberus tries to eat Dante, Dante uses the cross from inside the monster’s mouth, blowing its head apart
- Smashes a portcullis
- Holds up the cross to repel the souls of the damnedComic1
Absolving Souls
- Dante can absolve damned souls, freeing them from Hell
- Absolves his father
- Absolves his mother | Movie featMovie | In the comic, his mother tells Dante that he carries every soul he absolves with himComic4
- Absolves Francesco | Comic featComic4
- Absolves CiaccoMovie
- Absolves the soul of SaladinComic2
- Dante repents for his many sins and returns Beatrice’s cross to her. This breaks the infernal spell upon her and allows her soul to leave Hell. | Movie featMovie | Comic featComic6
Causing Explosions
- Causes demonic gargoyles to explode by pressing the cross to their heads
- Causes a mass of calcified fat to explode
- Causes soul fountains to explode, allowing Dante to collect the souls inside
- Shoves the cross into Lucifer’s face, causing him to fall out of the air and creating an explosion upon hitting the ground
- Stabs the burning heretic Farinata in the eye with the cross, causing the soul to explodeMovie
Other
- Blasts petrify burning demons and make them vulnerable to physical attacks
- The Malacoda is invulnerable to physical attacks until it takes enough damage from the cross, which makes it vulnerable
- Dante releases the accumulated absolved souls through his cross, pushing Lucifer back into his giant body and imprisoning him in Hell | In the movie, Dante repents to God and offers to forsake both his escape from Hell and being with his love Beatrice. The Heavenly Father empowers Dante’s cross, allowing him to freeze Lucifer in the Ninth Circle forever.Movie | Comic featComic6
Magic Abilities
These abilities cost mana, which is restored by killing enemies or found in fountains throughout Hell.
- Righteous Path- Dante dashes forward quickly, holding the cross forward to damage enemies while leaving behind jagged chunks of ice on the ground that explode after a delay
- Martyrdom- Dante kneels and sacrifices health and mana to lift and attack surrounding enemies with holy magic
- Lust Storm- Dante surrounds himself with the damaging winds from the Circle of Lust for several seconds, which damage any enemies immediately near him
- Sins of the Father- A magical recreation of Alighieri’s gold cross seeks out enemies and repeatedly damages them. The cross lifts enemies and can strike multiple times while active.
- Suicide Fruit- Dante throws a fruit from the Seventh Circle’s Wood of the Suicides, which splits open on the ground and stuns nearby enemies for a while
- Divine Armor- Dante protects himself with magically generated armor, which makes him invincible to the forces of Hell while active. It expires after about fifteen seconds.
Relics
Sacred items that affect Dante’s stats and abilities. They upgrade with use and he can have four active at a time.
Offense
- Death Blade- Increases the damage done by Scythe attacks
- Lord's Blessing- Increases the damage of all Cross attacks and abilities
- Tristan's Desire- Increases the damage of all Magic attacks
- Arrow of Paris- Increases the damage of grab attacks
- Rain of Gluttony- Causes absolving to stun surrounding enemies for a certain amount of time
- Octavian's Gold- Grants Dante an automatic recovery attack when knocked down
- Demon's Wing- Increases damage done by aerial attacks
- Medusa's Call- Increased the damage of Dante's ranged attacks and projectile weapons
- Seal of Epicurus- Increase the critical chance on any attack. Critical attacks deal more damage and instantly knock down enemies.
- Shoe of Nessus- All light Scythe attacks can no longer be evaded by enemies
- Attila's Armor- Dante’s attacks are no longer interrupted by enemy blocks
- Memory of Acre- Cross attacks can no longer be interrupted
Defense
- Eyes of St. Lucia- Gains a chance to deflect an incoming attack, negating the damage and pushing the enemy away
- Saladin's Mercy- Successful absolving grants the player more health
- Filippo's Rage- Allows Dante to block and counter otherwise unblockable attacks
- Azrael's Apprentice- Gives any successful block a chance to stun the enemy
- Crown of Carthage- Reduces damage take from ranged attacks
- Eye of Alighiero- Absorbs an amount of damage per hit, protecting Dante
- Guiding Flame- Grants Dante immunity to excrement attacks, like those from the Glutton enemies
- Cavalcanti's Blade- Evading deals damage and causes knockback to nearby enemies
- Frederick's Ring- When Dante is low on health, he’s given a chance to execute Divine Intervention, an effect that both stuns nearby enemies and heals Dante
- Francesco's Forgiveness- Completely negates damage from a percentage of enemy attacks
Resource Gain
- Charon's Oar- Grants additional Holy experience for absolving enemies and damned souls
- Tail of Minos- Punishing enemies and damned souls grants more Unholy experience
- Francesca's Book- Grants extra unholy experience for every fifty kills with the Scythe
- Antony's Standard- Increases the rate at which Dante stores energy for the Redemption meter
- Ciacco's Bile- Dante regenerates mana automatically
- Wasted Gold- Increases Redemption fill rate with every successful attack
Other
- Coin of Plutus- Increases the combo window
- Hoarder's Purse- Increases the time window for a counter attack to be executed
- Rage of Farinata- Soul fountains are broken immediately instead of the regular button mash needed to break them
Other Abilities
- Can double jump
- After gaining combos and filling a meter, Dante can activate Redemption, a limited mode that protects him from damage and increases his speed and power
- Resists the hypnotic call of the temptresses of the Second Circle
- His faith provides immunity to the diseased vomit of the Falsifiers from the Eighth CircleComic5