Dante (Smash Plus)

Dante is a playable character in Super Smash Brothers Plus for the Nintendo Switch Plus. Representing the Devil May Cry universe, he is the 5th and final character for the Season 2 DLC pass, and as such has no number within the in-game list. He is also classified as a Heavyweight fighter. He can only be unlocked through individual purchase, or by purchasing the Season 2 DLC pass.
Dante possesses one of the more complex movesets in all of Smash brothers, as it incorporates his four main fighting styles into his special moves and his basic attacks. Also true to the game in which he came from, players can change their fighting style on the fly simply by activating a corresponding special move input. Switching between these move styles will effectively switch between three different movesets: one for his Swordmaster Styles, one for his Gunslinger Style, and a third for his Trickster/Royal Guard Style.. In addition, the latter two of these styles change Dante's attributes slightly, moving his speed up or down in exchange for decreased or increased defense respectively. Switching between styles is also necessary to fully realize Dante's potential, as he can activate his Devil Trigger mode by filling his Style gauge. Without Devil Trigger mode, many of Dante's basic attacks deal slightly below average damage. With Devil Trigger activated, it greatly increases his offensive output. In all cases though, Dante is a heavyweight character with a surprising amount of mobility. If you can master his various playstyles and become adept at switching styles on the fly, he is one of the hardest characters to face off against. In inexperienced hands though, Dante will get outclassed by most fighters (particularly projectile fighters who can keep their distance.) Dante has two normal jumps and can wall jump.
==Moveset==
===Basic Attacks===
*Special Gimmick: Fighting Styles- Dante has four different fighting styles that he can switch between freely with a simple activation of a special command. His four styles are tied to a forward, back, up and down special with the neutral special move changing based on what style he is in. Each style also changes Dante's basic attacks, with him having a different moveset for his Swordmaster, Gunslinger, and Trickster/Royal Guard fighting style. Swordmaster focuses on Dante's sword play abilities, using Rebellion to attack foes. Gunslinger lets Dante attack from range using his handguns, Ebony and Ivory. Trickster & Royal Guard share a moveset which blends these two attack methods, but alter Dante's attributes slightly, with Trickster increasing his speed and increasing the length of invincibility during his dodge rolls while reducing his overall defensive stats and increasing his knockback against. Royal Guard does the opposite, increasing his defensive stats while greatly reducing his speed and slightly reducing his knockback power. Dante will always start in Swordmaster mode by default, though players can change this by pressing a special command during the countdown before a match starts.
*Special Gimmick: Devil Trigger/Style Meter- In addition to the style indicator on Dante's HUD, he also has a Style Meter that fills up during the match. Players can increase the style meter by dealing damage, scoring KOs and frequently changing styles. This last bit is important, because if you remain in the same style for more than 8 seconds at a time, then the meter will cease to fill up (unless you score a KO, which will always fill the meter), and remaining in the same style for more than 15 seconds at a time will cause the meter to start draining. If you fill the meter up, players can activate Devil Trigger mode by using Shield Special. This causes the meter to drain, but greatly increases Dante's damage output for all of his moves while active. Devil Trigger mode lasts for 12 seconds before draining the meter completely. The meter will also empty if Dante is KO'ed by half, and will empty completely if he is KO'ed in Devil Trigger mode.
*Neutral Jab (Trickster/Royal Guard/Gunslinger)- Dante performs a three slash combo with Rebellion, ending with a downward arcing slash from right to left
*Neutral Jab (Swordmaster)- Dante performs the first two swings of his slash combo, but then ends with a rapid jab where he repeatedly stabs Rebellion forward several times, launching on the final hit.
*Side Tilt (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante performs a downward arcing slash from right to left, similar to his Neutral Jab ending slash, but with far more knockback power at the expense of some startup lag.
*Side Tilt (Swordmaster)- Dante performs his downward arcing slash, but pressing the attack button up to three more times (even without the side tilt) will perform three more slashing attacks in front of Dante, launching opponents on the final hit.
*Side Tilt (Gunslinger)- Dante fires his twin pistols, Ebony & Ivory, directly in front of himself. Pressing the attack button repeatedly will cause Dante to continue to fire his guns, but they only deal small flinching damage at close range, and no flinch damage further away. These do not count as projectiles.
*Up Tilt (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante performs an upward swing with his sword, knocking opponents straight up into the air. A great combo starter.
*Up Tilt (Swordmaster)- Dante performs the same High Tide swing with his sword, but jumps up into the air with the opponent, doing slightly less knockback but allowing for far easier combo setup.
*Up Tilt (Gunslinger)- Dante fires Ebony & Ivory up into the air at a slight angle. This functions the same as his side tilt, and can be used to juggle opponents in the air for a short time.
*Down Tilt (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante performs a forward slash attack with Rebellion from right to left that has good startup time, but very weak power.
*Down Tilt (Swordmaster)- Dante slides forward along the ground a short distance. Pressing the attack button a second time will followup with a wide arcing low slash attack from right to left.
*Down Tilt (Gunslinger)- Dante fires one pistol forward at a low angle. The move can be spammed repeatedly by pressing the attack button repeatedly, allowing it to rack up damage quickly.
*Dash Attack (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante lunges forward with a powerful stabbing attack from Rebellion. Launches foes on contact.
*Dash Attack (Swordmaster)- Dante performs the same attack as his default dash attack, but players can press the attack button again to cancel the Dash Attack into a short version of Dante's rapid jab from his Neutral attack, which can hit multiple times.
*Dash Attack (Gunslinger)- Dante lunges forward with an attack, ending with an explosive shot from a short-barreled shotgun that launches foes at the end. Unlike his other Dash Attacks, this will only launch foes with the shotgun blast, rather than on impact.
*Grab & Pummel- Dante grabs with one hand and has a below average pummel, hitting opponents with the butt of one of his handguns.
*Forward Throw- Dante pierces the opponent with Rebellion and then performs a thrust kick to knock them straight forward.
*Back Throw- Dante jumps over the opponent and then fires a shotgun blast directly in front of them to knock them away.
*Up Throw- Dante tosses the opponent into the air and then performs a Million Stabs attack directly above himself, hitting opponents multiple times (as well as anyone to close to the attack) and launching them on the final hit.
*Down Throw- Dante stomps his foot onto the fallen opponent, unloads a flurry of shots into them with his handguns before kicking them away.
*Neutral Air (All Styles)- Dante spins around in midair while extending his foot, performing a multi-hitting kick attack.
*Forward Air (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante performs a simple downward swing with Rebellion.
*Forward Air (Swordmaster)- Dante performs his Aerial Rave combo. While it begins with the downward swing, the launch power is greatly reduced, allowing players to press the attack button up to 3 more times to attack with further sword swings.
*Forward Air (Gunslinger)- Dante pulls out Ebony & Ivory and fires them straight forward. Mashing the attack button will cause this move to stall Dante's fall slightly, however this only lasts for the first 0.75 seconds while button mashing, returning his gravity to normal.
*Back Air (All Styles)- Dante performs a two hit flaming spin kick directly behind himself, with the second hit having far more knockback and damage potential than the first.
*Up Air (All Styles)- Dante performs an overhead flaming kick that does more damage on the upward arc of the kick, sourspotting if it connects on the downward motion.
*Down Air (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante pauses in midair and then performs a downward slide kick that can meteor foes if it connects early in the move. Using this move over the blast zone can cause Dante to self-destruct.
*Down Air (Swordmaster)- Dante raises Rebellion overhead and then performs his Helm Breaker smash, falling to the ground with a powerful downward sword strike. Anyone hit by the tip of the sword will be spiked if hit in midair. Using this move over the blast zone, if it doesn't hit an opponent, will result in a self-destruct.
*Down Air (Gunslinger)- Dante flips in the air and spins around in a circle, firing Ebony & Ivory below himself in a full 360 degree radius. This move defies gravity like his Forward Gunslinger Air, with the same properties.
===Smash Attacks===
*Side Smash (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante performs a powerful punch straight forward while armed with his Devil Arms. This move is unique in that it doesn't launch foes with the first hit, rather stunning them if it connects at a high enough charge. Thus, Players can chain this attack together with additional hits from the devil arms if they are quick enough, following up with a body blow, followed by a high kick, followed by a downward striking axe kick. Each portion of the move can be charged, however doing so greatly increases the startup time for the move, and if you miss an attack, you are left wide open yourself and unable to follow up the combo chain.
*Side Smash (Swordmaster)- Dante performs his Shredder technique, spinning Rebellion forward in a counter clockwise motion. This move hits multiple times before launching foes straight up into the air. If players are quick enough they can cancel the move into another forward smash that uses the Prop technique, which deals more damage to foes in addition to the damage dealt by Shredder, and launches opponents forward instead of up. The window to do this however is incredibly small.
*Side Smash (Gunslinger)- Dante charges Demonic Energy through his Coyote A Shotgun and fires a powerful blast directly in front of himself. The damage dealt by the shotgun remains constant regardless of charge, but at full charge the range of the damaging explosion (ie, the sweetspot of the move) will increase.
*Up Smash (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante performs a flaming uppercut that launches foes straight up into the air. It has a sweetspot right at the beginning of the move, similar to Little Mac's Up Smash, which when charged deals massive damage and knockback to foes. However like all of Dante's Smash attacks, it has high endlag and is easy to punish if it misses.
*Up Smash (Swordmaster)- Dante performs a move similar to his Up Special in Trickster/Royal Guard mode, but this time delivers a spiral uppercut while jumping into the air a short distance. This attack hits multiple times and launches on the final hit. It has better startup time than the Trickster uppercut, but does far less knockback.
*Up Smash (Gunslinger)- Dante uses the Artemis Devil Arm and fires a powerful charge shot directly above his head. At full charge, he will also cause a small amount of lasers to fall down around himself, giving the move extra horizontal coverage, but only the explosion above his head will launch foes away.
*Down Smash (Trickster/Royal Guard)- Dante performs a breakdance kick along the ground, hitting opponents multiple times and launching on the final hit. Like with his Swordmaster Side Smash, there is a small window where players can press Down Smash again to cancel the move into a backflip kick that will knock opponents straight up into the air, dealing far more knockback and damage than the move deals normally, at the expense of high endlag.
*Down Smash (Swordmaster)- Dante stabs his sword straight into the ground and spins around it as if it were a pole to dance on. He spins around three times at full charge, hitting opponents multiple times and launching on the final hit. Like with his breakdance down special, there is a small window to cancel the move into a powerful ending slash attack to knock foes away, but the timing is even less forgiving than his previous Down Special.
*Down Smash (Gunslinger)- Dante spins his shotgun around himself like a pair of nunchucks, firing off several blasts at once around his body. Has some of the best coverage of any Down Smash in the game, but also has a very weak amount of launch power.
===Special Moves===
*Special Gimmick: Style Change- Pressing any of Forward, Back, Up or Down Special will change Dante's currently assigned Fighting Style (as indicated by the coressponding graphic on Dante's Hud). Each fighting style has its own unique Neutral Special tied to it, with the other special commands used solely for changing styles. Forward Special will activate Swordmaster. Back Special will activate Gunslinger. Up Special activates Trickster. Down Special activates Royal Guard.
*Shield Special: Devil Trigger- When Dante's Style Meter is filled to 100%, then utilizing shield special will activate Devil Trigger mode, which will increase Dante's damage output significantly. Shield Special does nothing if the meter isn't 100% full.
*Neutral Special (Swordmaster): Overdrive- Dante swings his sword upward and fires a Crescent shaped shockwave across the ground, very similar to Cloud's Neutral Special. However, unlike Cloud's, holding the special button will cause Dante to charge the move. He is also able to roll dodge to store the charge. At full charge, the shockwave will be larger and deal much more damage, similar to Dark Samus' Charge Shot. It will also have smaller shockwaves that trail behind the main one that can damage other foes as well. These shockwaves do count as projectiles.
*Neutral Special (Gunslinger): Blast Fire- Dante unloads both clips from Ebony & Ivory in a rapid fire blast, firing off 20 shots in a short time frame. While the bullets do only minor damage, they do cause flinching damage regardless of the distance an opponent is at when they are hit (unlike most of his other handgun bullet based attacks, where the flinching damage ceases at long range). These shots do count as projectiles, though.
*Neutral Special (Trickster): Air Trick- Dante teleports in a chosen direction quickly. While this teleport by itself does no damage, it has next to no startup lag (in contrast to other teleports) and can be used twice in midair before Dante enters freefall, allowing it to overcome its short range distance handicap as a recovery move somewhat.
*Neutral Special (Royal Guard): Release Counter- Dante performs a straightforward punch that acts as a pseudo-counter move. If he successfully counters a move, than a demonic aura will explode around Dante to knock foes away. However this move doesn't function as a full counter, as Dante will still absorb any damage he would have taken from the attack he countered, albeit in reduced form. The counter does briefly grant Dante full Super Armor, making him unlaunchable from the attack in question, however. The power of the Demonic Aura attack is based on Dante's damage percentage when activated, as the aura will do more damage and knockback at higher damage percentages. It will default to its max damage and knockback output if Devil Trigger is activated while the Release Counter is used.
*Final Smash (All Styles): Dance Macabre- Dante performs a stinger attack with Rebellion. Any player caught in the Stinger lunge will be caught in a powerful sword slash combo where Dante racks up a lot of damage on them with quick sword swings from Rebellion. He then ends the combo attack with a baseball style swing with his sword while quipping "Jackpot", launching foes. Players caught in the Stinger lunge will be launched further than any opponent who gets caught in the attack after the initial dash forward.
===Miscellaneous===
*Special Gimmick: Air Taunt- Pressing any taunt button while in midair will cause Dante to toss a rose forward onto the ground, which does minor damage to any player it hits. Performing the Air Taunt successfully will cause Dante's style meter to increase a good amount, but this can only be done once per stock.
*Entry Animation- Dante falls onto the stage while surrounded by sparks of crimson ash.
*Idle Animation 1- Dante pulls out one of his handguns and looks at it briefly before putting it away.
*Idle Animation 2- Dante puts up both fists in a defensive measure while hopping back and forth on his feet, briefly.
*Side Taunt- Dante waves his hand forward as if beckoning the opponent to come at him, while saying "Show Me What You Got."
*Up Taunt- Dante shrugs his shoulders and scoffs while saying "You're not slacking, are ya?"
*Down Taunt- Dante bends over and waves both hands forward as if calling to an animal, saying "Come on! Come at me boy!"
*Victory Animation 1- Dante climbs onto his motorcycle after dismissing his opponent, saying "Man! I'm bored!" before riding off while kicking up dust to the defeated opponents.
*Victory Animation 2- Dante flips his coat while walking towards the camera, pulling out his handguns, flipping them around in his hands, and then finishing on a pose facing the camera while saying "Yeah! Jackpot baby!"
*Victory Animation 3- Dante performs a few dance moves in front of the camera, while saying "Rest in pieces...it's been a bash."
==Reveal Trailer==
Coming Soon...
Category:Super Smash Bros. Characters
Category:Super Smash Bros. (series)
Category:Smash Plus Characters