Summary

  • Dante's personality in the anime is more talkative and jokester-like compared to the game series.
  • The White Rabbit character is mostly original in the anime, adding depth and backstory to the show.
  • The demons in the anime are portrayed as having human-like characteristics and political themes, different from the games.

Devil May Cry has an anime - well, another one - made by Netflix now, so you can watch Dante go through iconic demon bosses from the series while you're taking a break from doing that yourself in the games. That said, the anime has taken a lot of liberties with the series, with its own plot, concepts, and characters, which are only the same in name and design.

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If you start playing Devil May Cry because of the anime, the differences can even be jarring due to how much has been changed. Here are the biggest changes made on the show.

Light spoilers below.

8 Dante's Personality

Younger And More Talkative

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Dante himself doesn't have the most consistent personality between games, likely due to how most of them have significant time jumps between one another, though his core traits remain. In the anime, he's more of a jokester, cracking a lot of jokes, and some fans even compare this portrayal to Deadpool.

In the games, specifically the third one (where he's about the same age), he jokes and mocks his enemies, but not often. There's humor in the game series, sure, but his behavior tends to be more nonchalant about what's going on or reckless in an exaggerated (and cinematic) way, showing that he's cocky but extremely good at what he does, adding style to his actions - which is a perfect fit in a series about killing enemies in a stylish manner.

7 White Rabbit's Character As A Whole

99 Percent Original

The White Rabbit is a funny case, as he's not even from the games, but he's not original, either. He appears in a manga that serves as a prequel to the third game, which is chronologically the first one in the series. There, he's a demon who is curious about Dante because he is Sparda's son.

Here, the character is pretty much his own thing, with a plan, proper backstory, and different motivations as to why he's after Dante, for reasons we won't explain to avoid spoilers. Still, he's essentially a different character. With all that said, and despite the lack of faithfulness, he's surprisingly one of the best-written characters in the show.

6 Vergil's Role In The Narrative

Not Much To Say Here, Yet

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Vergil doesn't appear a lot in the anime, so it's hard to say how much will change yet. However, in his short appearance, he seems to be serving Mundus, which matches how he's portrayed in the original Devil May Cry.

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That said, Mundus controls Vergil in the original game, yet in the anime, it seems he's serving Mundus willingly while doing his own schemes, given how he supports the White Rabbit's plan.

5 Lady's Character As A Whole

95 Percent Original

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Mary Ann Arkham is another example of an original character with a design from the series, like the Rabbit. Lady is a demon hunter who is also after her father in the third game because of the death of her mother. She also abandoned her name, and due to the lack of having one, Dante just calls her Lady.

In the anime, however, she's affiliated with the government as part of Darkcom, where she hunts demons for them, and her family's backstory is original (though it still revolves around a dad responsible for her mother's death, too). She doesn't carry her iconic bazooka, either, except for the very end of the season, and Lady is just a random nickname.

While she remains 'the serious one' between her and Dante, it's worth mentioning that her personality changed significantly, as well. In the games, she's more serious, and her development is more personal due to her father being a villain, with her anger being more subtle, while here, she's more explosive with her anger, and she's a bit foul-mouthed, which divided the fanbase as it has never been a key aspect of her portrayal.

4 Darkcom And The Government As Part Of The Story

What Is That?

Speaking of the government, they never played any role in the games, not even in situations that would make sense, like when a gigantic, demonic tree popped up in the middle of a city in Devil May Cry 5. This means that Darkcom simply doesn't exist in the games.

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In the anime, not only is it through them that Lady becomes part of the story, but the whole division is a key player throughout the entire narrative.

3 Demons And Their Characterization

What The Hell Is A Makai?

Another big difference is how demons are portrayed. The anime says they're a different evolutionary line from humans from a different dimension, and there are plenty of both good and evil demons, with some even trying to escape Makai (their name for Hell) due to the evil demons and from Mundus' rule.

In the games, however, they're just monsters. They work a lot more like how they're portrayed in mythology or even in games like Dungeons & Dragons. Some are smarter and more powerful, while others are weaker and dumber, but they're just evil by nature. In the games, the only good demon we have is Sparda, who's Dante and Vergil's father.

Between the government and the demons being humanized and treated as refugees, it's clear that the anime also has politics and real-life commentaries as a centerpiece of the narrative, something that the games were never known for.

2 Everyone Is Weaker

A More 'Grounded' Experience

One thing that is worth noting is that most characters are significantly weak compared to their game counterparts. They still fight well, and the fighting choreography is good, but things aren't as over-the-top as they are in the games.

Dante himself struggles to kill certain demons, likely to add a level of development to his fighting technique. Even though some of these demons are bosses, he kills them with relative ease during the games. As a plus, Dante has a healing factor as a way of justifying his absurd resilience. Makes sense since an anime can't have something like a health bar.

1 The Whole Plot

Not A Retelling, But A New Story Altogether

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We compared the anime a few times with Devil May Cry 3 since this game is chronologically the first. Dante is around the same age, and some bits from the game's story do happen in the anime, such as Dante finding out about his brother through the White Rabbit (which actually happens in the manga prequel, but still).

That said, this anime is not a retelling of what happens in the third game at all. The villain, locations, and premise are all different. Not even Dante's business, also called Devil May Cry, exists, even though he's already a demon hunter.

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Devil May Cry

TV-MA Animation Action & Adventure Fantasy Horror 9.6/10 Release Date April 3, 2025 Network Netflix Writers Alex Larsen

Cast

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  • Johnny Yong Bosch
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