Dante Wilder

## Dante

20 (Maelstrom)

21 (Savants)

Dante (formerly 'Aaron') Wilder is a man of many professions, even if said professions are generally quite similar. Previously a soldier in the Bulwark, Dante has since founded, and is currently leading, an offshoot organisation called Pandemonium's Bane (PB). The onus behind PB, according to Dante, is to use the abilities of its members to help people. In his spare time, he moonlights as a vigilante called 'Maelstrom', using the powers he has to save and help people in need. Whatever else one might say about Dante, he's remarkably consistent.

### Appearance

Dante is a lean young man of average-ish height, with light brown hair (that he often styles into spikes, using copious amounts of hair gel to do so) and dark blue eyes. His fashion sense is widely considered to be atrocious – he was once spotted walking around in polka-dot Bermuda shorts, boat shoes, and a bright red sweater. His “official” Pandemonium’s Bane “uniform” is a long maroon coat.

### Personality

Dante is, in many ways, a quintessential 'main-character' type - which is useful, given how many stories he stars in! He possesses both a deep-rooted desire to help people (founded on a tragic backstory, as many of the best are), and a tendency towards direct action instead of sitting on the sidelines. This combination makes him into something of a paragon: he inspires some to follow him, and others to let him pass. Despite these very obvious leadership qualities, he doesn't really think of himself as a leader; more as a guy who just stepped up to the plate out of necessity. Stay humble, Dante.

Outside of all the hero stuff, Dante can be best classified as "that guy who's fun to hang out with for as long as you don't get tired of him". He has a prominent sense of humour, with a special reliance on quips and sarcasm, and will stubbornly lean on that humour whenever things get serious or stressful. He's typically quite socially adept, generally able to weave his way through conversation, even if he sometimes comes across as a bit of an over-energetic weirdo. (He has his clueless moments, of course, but doesn't everyone?)

Just like a quintessential YA hero, Dante's flaws are can be found within that insane drive and determination he has. Though he's self-aware, and actively tries to suppress this aspect of himself, the truth is that he has a very poor sense of self-preservation, and struggles to put his needs above the needs of others. Which, yeah, it's heroic and all, but it can also be incredibly dangerous, especially given his line of work.

Slightly related to this is Dante's over-protective streak. The fact that he's so determined to keep people safe means that he struggles to recognize when he's being overbearing, and when people don't actually need all that much saving. This particularly manifests itself in relationships where Dante has legitimate obligation to look after the other person, such as with his sister Ana. He always means well, but struggles with that whole 'self-control' thing, and still needs to really learn when to put his feet up and let other people strike out on their own, or do the heavy lifting.

### Abilities and Powers

From a practical perspective, Dante's physical abilities are above-average but not extraordinary. His military training from when he was in the Bulwark gave him a solid baseline for skills such as hand-to-hand fighting, mobility, and aiming a gun. There's also the fact that, despite receiving little formal training, he's a good field commander, very able to adapt to situations and good at coming up with applications for whatever powers his teammates may have.

In terms of literal power, Dante's repertoire can most succinctly be described as 'energy manipulation'. Harnessing the powers of the gem that he's bonded to, he generates energy from himself that can then take various forms, depending on what's situationally most convenient - kinetic or laser blasts, fire or lightning-like bursts, or more solid forms, such as flat barriers or viscous 'webbing'. He can also transform his own corporeal form into energy, which he mostly uses to slip into shadows and evade attacks.

A key aspect of Dante's powers is that though they are sourced form the 'isfet' gem, they aren't legitimate isfet - they bear only a visual resemblance to the actual substance, and cannot corrupt people in the way that genuine isfet can. He is also unable to manipulate actual isfet - he can only control energy that he himself generates. He has long argued that his powers shouldn't actually be defined as 'isfet' at all, but unfortunately, no-one's come up with a less verbose way of saying "energy manipulation but also the energy bears terrifying resemblance to isfet" yet.

### Quotes

* “Son of a motherless goat!”
* “[If Plue and ‘Anna found out I’d gotten myself killed] they’d be disappointed but not surprised.”
* “It’s me, your leader. Why are there fire alarms going off?”

### Appearances

* Of Encounters and Trysts
* Hit and Run
* Grudge Match
* Maelstrom
* Week Two
* Routine
* Dress Rehersal
* People Skills
* Savants
* Altera
* Omnia Vincit Amor
* The Ethics Of Hiring Someone Who Just Tried To Rob You
* A Very Specific Set Of Circumstances

### Author's Notes/Trivia

* I created him as a character in 2012, and he was originally a self-insert, but he’s developed loads over the past few years and become his own person. He's still like me in some ways - we both have spiky hair and blue eyes, and neither of us are great with this whole "fashion" business.
* His character design is based on a few different people by this point, but probably the most significant inspiration was the character Kittan from Gurren Lagann?

Dante as he appears in the Pandemonium's Bane spreadChibi DanteDante with PlueDante in the "do it for him" meme