Why Is Dante in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne?
Dante, the demon hunter of Capcom's Devil May Cry series, hunts the Demi-fiend through Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, fights him, and can join his party. He is not in the original Japanese release. His presence in the game the West received is one of the best documented guest appearances in the medium, because the producer who approved it explained it on the record, twice over, and because Atlus paid for the loan with design work in return.
THE VERDICT
The short answerDante was added in Nocturne Maniax (Japan, January 29, 2004), the director's cut that restored content cut from the 2003 original. The idea came from a member of the Atlus staff who was a Devil May Cry fan; producer Kouji Okada thought it crazy, then saw the fit, pitched Capcom with a short film Atlus made for the purpose, and Capcom approved. In exchange, Nocturne's demon designer Kazuma Kaneko designed the Devil Trigger forms of Dante and Vergil for Devil May Cry 3. Maniax became the basis of every Western release, which is why the West's first mainline Shin Megami Tensei arrived featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series.
THE SUGGESTION
Okada, on the recordOkada's own account, given in interviews at the time: one of the staff members in Japan, who happened to be a big fan of the Devil May Cry series, came up with the idea of including Dante in an upcoming Shin Megami Tensei game. At first Okada thought it was a crazy idea, but realized that Dante is a devil hunter and it might actually work, and presented the Nocturne concept to Capcom. The professional connection helped: Okada was close with Tsuyoshi Tanaka, the Devil May Cry series producer, and the two discussed the collaboration publicly at the Tokyo Game Show in 2003.
THE PITCH
A film, made to borrow a characterAtlus did not send a letter; it made a movie in which Dante confronted the game's hero, the Demi-fiend, and showed Capcom what the guest spot would actually play like. Capcom was satisfied with the video and allowed Atlus to use the character. Inside the game, the fiction justifies him the same way the pitch did: Lucifer hires the demon hunter to hunt the Demi-fiend, and Dante arrives carrying a Candelabrum that reacts to its twin.
THE EXCHANGE
What Capcom got backThe loan was not free. In return for Dante's presence in Nocturne, Kazuma Kaneko, the artist behind Nocturne's character and demon designs, was brought onto Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening to design the Devil Trigger forms of Dante and Vergil. Two of the era's defining action and RPG studios traded their signature character work, and both games shipped with the other's fingerprints on them.
THE AFTERLIFE
Replaced once, restored as the joke became canonDante's seat was not permanent. In the Maniax Chronicle Edition (Japan, 2008), Atlus replaced him with its own Raidou Kuzunoha, the detective of the Devil Summoner games, and that Chronicle build became the basis of the HD Remaster. Dante returned there as downloadable content, and Atlus announced him using the very line the internet had spent fifteen years repeating: featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series. The guest spot a staff fan suggested in 2003 is now load bearing series history.
THE GAME ON THE SHELF
Nocturne