Demon Lord Dante

Demon Lord Dante (魔王ダンテ) is the title of several horror-themed manga series written by Go Nagai as well as an anime series.

During 1971, Go Nagai wrote the original Demon Lord Dante manga, which was published in Kodansha's Bokura Magazine. After its original run in 1971 from January to June, Go Nagai went on to author the Devilman anime and manga, which was greatly inspired by Demon Lord Dante. However, the series received a remake in 1994 by illustrator Akira Fuuga called Shin Maō Dante (真・魔王ダンテ).

In 2002, the comic series was officially revived for another remake by Go Nagai, and during the same year a 13 episode anime adaption was created and broadcast worldwide by Animax.

Anime
A strange group of cultists with the ability to transform into demons have begun to gather a black mass in hopes of reviving an ancient devil lord known as Dante. Ryō Utsugi, a high school student, begins suffering strange dreams and premonitions. Soon after, Ryō's sister, Saori, is kidnapped by these cultists for use in their sacrificial ceremony in hopes of reawakening Dante. Ryō's premonitions guide him to the ceremony, and just before Saori is to be killed, the cultist's ceremony is disrupted by a force of holy men. This happens just in time for Ryō to save his sister from her fate.

Believing that Ryō's new-found powers could ultimately awaken Dante, the cultists cause a chain of events that lures Ryō high into the mountains, where he discovers a portal that takes him deep into the Himalayas and into Dante's prison. The devil lord Dante is presented as a giant monster similar to the size of Godzilla, but with bird-like legs, massive bat wings, and a tiny human face between the eyes. Using telekinetic powers, Dante uses Ryō to free himself from his ice prison, before consuming Ryō's body. The cultists then call another black mass together, and they summon Dante, only to find that Dante's mind has been conquered by Ryō Utsugi. Blinded by the rage of his new body, Ryō starts rampaging through Japan. Afterwords, Ryo is able to transform into a humanoid version of Dante the size of a human at will. He also encounters the leader of the cultists who tells him that Ryo's real family was killed in a car accident and his father, who is both a doctor and a leader of a rival cult dedicated to God's will, was the one who saved him, making both Saori and him unrelated by blood.

Soon after Dante is freed, four demon lords are also released to wreak havoc on the city, such as draining the life force of humans, causing a train wreck, etc. all for the purpose of gaining Dante's attention. Ryo also encounters Zenon, who in this version was a demon who became a slave of God and was envious of Dante's power. He also meets the gorgon Medusa, who assumes the form of a supermodel named Saeko Kodai with red hair she also uses as a weapon.

As the story progresses, it is finally revealed that Ryo is actually a human avatar of Dante during his past life as a human. While Dante was a human, he lived in a futuristic version of Sodom and Gomorrah along with Medusa and the cultists in a thriving population watched over by Satan, who is depicted as a benevolent ruler of the two cities. God arrives in Sodom and demands that its inhabitants hand over their bodies. Satan refuses this request and God destroys the two cities, resulting in Dante and Medusa transforming into their demonic forms. Desperate, Dante and Satan both sealed themselves within ice while Dante transferred his human body and soul to Judas Iscariot and Ryo Utsugi respectively. With Ryo finally regaining his memories as Dante while in Sodom and Gomorrah, he teams up with the cultists and plans to finally take vengeance upon God for his sins.

Later on, Saori has become the tool of God. God is seen as a villain in the series and the cultists are trying to stop God from allowing the apocalypse to occur. Demon Lord Satan is also awakened and helps Dante (Ryo) in his battle against God. Saori is transformed into an ultimate being, controlled by God himself, leading her to slaughter many of Dante's allies. After Dante/Ryo succeed in destroying the first form which was a large serpent featuring twisted parodies of Adam and Eve, she transforms into a angelic knight with Saori's body placed in its forehead. She battles Ryo fiercely, but they both stop, remembering their feelings for one another, and they reunite as Adam and Eve. The final scene of the show shows them holding hands and walking in what seems to be a prehistoric version of the Garden of Eden.

Characters
Ryo Utsugi

The main protagonist of the series. At first, Ryo is an average, but brooding high school student who constantly has nightmares about Dante. When he is spirited away to the Himalayas during a hiking trip, Ryo is manipulated by Dante's demon form to free him, resulting in Dante brutally murdering Ryo. Fortunately Ryo is able to overcome Dante's influence and is granted the demon's power, much to Ryo's dismay. As the story progresses, Ryo develops a crush on his sister Saori and discovers that he was actually the survivor of a car accident in which his real parents were killed in years prior to the main story, making him unrelated to his "sister." He also learns that he is actually the human avatar of Dante while assuming the image Dante once had as a human in Sodom. With his memories restored, Ryo/Dante finally comes to terms with his powers and resolves to fight against God for the massacre of Sodom and Gomorrah

Ryo possesses two forms while transforming into the demon version of Dante. One is the form Dante assumed during God's attack on Sodom and the other is a small, human sized version reminiscent of Akira Fudo's Devilman form in the early anime/manga.

Dante

The main source of Ryo's powers as a demon, Dante serves as both a bringer of power to Ryo and his guide. As a demon, he appears as a large blue demon with bird legs, chiropteran wings, and the face of his human form in the center of his head. In his early life, Dante was a human in the futuristic Sodom where he was in love with Medusa and was actually good friends with the cultists and Satan the wise one. When God attacked Sodom, Dante gathered up his friends to escape from God in a desperate attempt. This attempt however failed when Dante transformed into the Demon Lord Dante. Desperate to escape God's wrath, Dante and Satan sealed themselves in ice while the former transferred his human body to Judas Iscariot and transferred his soul to Ryo Utsugi moments after the car accident which killed Ryo's real parents and grew into Ryo Utsugi, but lost his memories in the process. Ryo is brought to the Himalayas by Dante where the boy proceeded to free Dante's demon form from its icy prison. In exchange for Ryo's service, Dante dismembered and ultimately consumed Ryo with the boy overcoming Dante's influence and obtaining his powers. Later when Ryo regained his memories as Dante, the two of them soon became considered one single entity and sought to fight against God.

Dante's powers include, but not limited to super sonic flight, fast healing, a very high resistance to heat, fire balls and flames from the mouth, radioactive and electric body rays, sonic screaming, and eye lasers.

Medusa

Dante's lover during his years in Sodom. She escaped the attack on Sodom while she too transformed into a demon during God's attack and assumed the human form of a supermodel with long red hair known as Saeko Kodai in the modern human world while as Medusa she appears as a nude female with the ability to use her hair as a weapon and to turn her enemies into stone. She possesses a cold, calm demeanor and followed Ryo around until she finally helped him regain his memories as Dante. She plays an instrumental part in freeing Satan the wise one from his prison at the end of the anime, but dies in the process while she caught a final glimpse of Satan the wise one.

Medusa is speculated to be a prototype of the antagonist Sirene from Devilman.

Satan

Also known as Demon Lord Satan or Satan the Wise One, he appears in the form of a young blond human in futuristic attire and later acquires six bat like seraphim wings while he was imprisoned in ice. In Sodom, he was the benevolent ruler of Sodom and Gomorrah who was asked by God to hand over the bodies of the cities' population. When Satan refused to sacrifice the human population for God's selfish agenda, God retaliated by sending numerous demons to attack the city. Satan and Dante, along with Dante's friends, escaped and the two demon lords sealed themselves in ice. Satan is later freed by Medusa who dies in the process and becomes an instrumental part in fighting against Saori who became an angelic weapon during the series' finale.

He appears to be a prototype of Ryo Asuka from the Devilman series and seems to be based upon Dante's Satan in the Divine Comedy.

Zeil Zebub

The leader of the cultists who assumes the form of a Romanian professor. He fakes his own death on national television and later acquires the power of the demon Beelzebub, which is also the demon his name is based upon. In the beginning he is suspected of taking part in the sacrificial murders, but he is soon revealed to be on Ryo's side and was once Dante's mentor during their days in Sodom. He eventually teams up with Dante/Ryo during the final confrontation with God and is presumably killed during the final battle.

Samael

One of the cultists who acquired the powers of demons. He appears in demon form as an anthropomorphic caterpillar with three heads. He is soon killed after Adam and Even absorb his body when he tried to attack them.

Episode list

 * 1) Nightmare
 * 2) Awakening
 * 3) Call of Two Thousand Years
 * 4) Madness of Demon Lord
 * 5) Satanist
 * 6) Three Faces
 * 7) Mysterious Woman – Saeko
 * 8) Monster Factory
 * 9) Secret of Ryo
 * 10) Dante's Love
 * 11) Beast – Demon – Monster
 * 12) The Unbreakable Weapon
 * 13) Ultimate War