Invictus Maneo/Dante

**“**Jackpot! Let's rock, baby!**”**
— Invictus Maneo selection quip
Dante is a vigilante devil hunter who aims to pursue and eliminate those who've slain his mother and corrupted his brother— wicked demons and supernatural threats of many varieties. In spite of that, Dante has a laid-back and carefree attitude, having a bit of badassery in him given how he likes to taunt his enemies and make witty comments. Still he has a strong sense of justice and tries to do the right thing when possible. Dante owns the main branch of the Devil May Cry business, where he and hunters like himself take jobs for hunting down demons.

Dante originates from the 2001 game Devil May Cry, and his home stage is, fittingly enough, Devil May Cry.

## Basics

Dante is a middleweight zoner character, specializing neither in strength nor speed but having the tools necessary to dominate the stage. Ebony and Ivory especially make for useful tools in Dante's basic moveset, as they help make approaching him difficult. He is a rather balanced fighter.

The weapon Dante uses in combat changes depending on if the player taps or holds the attack button down, with the former offering gunplay with Ebony and Ivory and the latter offering swordplay with his trusty Rebellion. Ebony and Ivory chip away at enemies (cannot make flinch) while Rebellion deals real damage and knockback. Dante's main gimmick is the Stylish Rank system, represented by a gauge and a letter next to his stamina percentage. If Dante keeps on attacking, avoids damage, and switches up his moves to avoid staleness, the letter grade increases (D/C/B/A/S). The higher the grade, the more powerful Dante's attacks are, though their launching power never increases. Dante loses a grade for every failure he makes, with a short cooldown preventing him from losing another. If he doesn't hit the enemy for 5 seconds, the grade drops back to D.

However, his stylish system is what makes or breaks him: if one plays well and keeps the gauge up, Dante is fantastic. But if they keep breaking the gauge, Dante is near worthless, because he isn't getting far without those high ranks.

## Specials

* **Special A: Drive**
Holding down the special button will have Dante's blade glow red and sparkle with white electricity. Depending on when the player lets go, the size and strength of Dante's crimson shockwave will vary. At maximum charge, Dante throws three large shockwaves in a row that reach across the length of an average stage.
* **Special B: Round Trip**
Dante will send forth his Rebellion, which will spin rapidly and trap any enemy it touches to deal decent damage to them before returning to Dante as if it were a boomerang. The last hit can launch foes a far distance if they've taken enough damage. Dante can shoot with his Ebony and Ivory to deal additional damage.
* **Special C: Sky Star**
Dante steps on a crimson colored glyph and jumps off of it. It isn't the best recovery move out there but it's serviceable and the player can angle it. Dante does not become helpless after using Sky Star, meaning he can attack foes attempting to edgeguard him or intercept his opponents while they're recovering.
* **Special D: Crazy Combo**
Dante will have one of his letter grades deducted, which can be done up to four times. If Dante's next combo stops, Dante will automatically initiate some of his various crazy combos to keep it going, with each deducted grade adding another combo to Dante's chain. If he doesn't attack real soon, his “charge” ends.
* **Showstopper: Devil Trigger**
Dante enters his demonic form, having infinite flight and increased stats all around. He also gradually heals, though he can still take damage in this form. The key to the appeal of Devil Trigger is that the knockback scaling on many of Dante's moves is significantly increased, making it easier to KO his targets.