Darth Wiki / Divine Comedy: A (Theoretical) Fate RPG

A theoretical Fate Series (based heavily on the characterizations of the author's "main" Fate work, Project Alter) AU JRPG/Visual Novel adaptation of The Divine Comedy with minor inspiration from Dante's Inferno, but playing and having a tone more like a horrific version of Undertale or Mother 3. May be given more consideration if Dante and/or especially Virgil become Servants.

The story is much like that of the original; you play as the Italian poet Dante, who, somewhat directionless in life, finds himself wandering, lost in a forest. And as we all know, he meets his idol Virgil, tasked to be his guide by his longtime target of affection and proclaimed muse Beatrice, and goes on a pilgrimage through the divine realms.

Notably, the Purgatorio and Paradiso segments are also included in the series. Paradiso is more of an extended epilogue and probably wouldn’t even exist in a “playable” format even if the game was real.

However, this is a Fate crossover for a reason. In Inferno, you’re granted something original to this story, and the central mechanic of the game; the Cross of Salvation, a crucifix blessed so that through it God’s light may shine through even in Hell, that has the ability to cast spells to defend yourself, repel evil, sense possible good in people, and send souls to the entrance of Purgatory. As you trek and fight through the divine realms, you have the opportunity to meet many familiar faces; in Hell, denizens who may be finally seeking closure, and may not be so irredeemable after all, who will be able to join you and reveal more and more about themselves and why they took the actions they did, until at the end when you send them to test themselves again at Purgatory. In Purgatorio you meet more familiar faces as souls who are on their journey to make up for their sins, and finally, in Paradiso, gain words of wisdom from those who were able to ascend into God’s embrace. All the while, Dante meets many people he knows as well, and reflects on himself and his own flaws and hang-ups, coming to terms with them.

(For now this is set at the same time period. But I’m also considering making the era way later and making the player character a complete OC)

Note: Inconsistent spoilering.

Tropes Appearing in Divine Comedy

• Actionized Adaptation: While not as much as the game that partially inspired it, Dante still has the ability to fight, and you and the party fight demons of Hell. Dante also has some combat experience with a pike, though by his own admission he’s mediocre with it at best. Exemplified by how one of two possible endings for the Inferno segment is slamming Lucifer with an especially flashy, explosive chain of every Noble Phantasm of every Guest-Star Party Member you redeemed, with the power of other souls who you had redeemed, finishing with an epic, Hell-shattering Clarent Blood Arthur to the face. (pending) However, at the end of the day Dante is a poet who got some magical powers for self-defense, not a fighter, and if you try to fight every encounter you’re probably going to die due to the sheer amount of Demonic Spiders, all enemies respawning after an amount of time, and as the denizens of Hell you recruit tend to be Glass Cannons due to being in Hell for punishment, generally you’re going to find yourself making good use of Virgil’s force shields more often than not. However, by Purgatorio, the battles pretty much completely drop off, and the rest of the game is basically just puzzles, Dante completing his character arc, and, in Paradiso, enjoying the Scenery Porn.
• Adaptational Modesty: Arguable because clothing is barely described in the original, but the condemned in Hell are often depicted naked; here, they wear varyingly tattered or worn clothing that they presumably were wearing when they died or beaten-up looking tunics.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: While everyone uses their Fate design, characters tend to act more like how they actually did in real life or in source material much like in Project Alter, with some coloring from how Dante would probably portray them with more elaboration. Understandably, Adaptational Nice Guy tends to be more common in Paradiso, though it may also be that they’ve already gone through Purgatory.
  • More Character Rerailment, but Chiron. He becomes not only the party’s guide through the first third of the Seventh Circle instead of Nessus, due to being the only centaur with a Fate design, he stays a Guest-Star Party Member throughout the level. Unlike how he mercilessly shoots at the sinners to keep them in their place in the original, here, described as “an unusually, almost uncannily beautiful thing amidst the stomach-curdling, twisted landscape, a beacon of goodwill in the nose-piercing, metallic stench of blood that hung like a dark fog”, it’s made clear he doesn’t exactly enjoy his job due to his gentle personality, and is generally a spot of goodness after you've been trekking through Scenery Gorn and morally ambiguous people for hours by now. While he does believe that punishment and tough love are a part of life, he has mixed feelings at best about how punishment in Hell is without end and therefore pointless, when as a teacher, his view is that punishment should be to correct others onto the right path, not eternal torment. One of the very first things he asks you after you become a bit more friendly with him, if you absolved Achilles, and even more so if you had him in your party back in the previous circle, is him doting over Achilles and thanking you for giving him a chance. It becomes especially apparent when he gets extremely emotional at the Forest of Suicides, becoming enraged and threatening to shoot at the dogs causing the damned to suffer even more. By the end, while you don’t “redeem” him of anything because he’s not a sinner, you are able to send him to Ante-Purgatory the same way to meet Achilles and to wait for his other students, something which he’s absolutely overjoyed about, and before he’s sent there, his final request is for you to help Jason and Odysseus in the next circle over, no matter what. It’s Chiron’s blessing that serves as Dante and Virgil’s excuse for why they put up with them, and that finally, in a rather heartwarming moment, causes the embittered Jason and even the seemingly cold-hearted Odysseus to break down (for Jason) or try to accept that evil is still evil, even if it was necessary in a way (for Odysseus), and resolve to at least try to change for the better, if just to make their old mentor proud.(Pending)
  • Solomon. While Project Alter already presented him to be a step up from the villain in Fate/Grand Order and more in line with the Biblical king, a benevolent and wise but flawed man, here he acts much more like culture since has presented him to be; an unambiguously good, wise king.
  • David also of course goes through similar changes as his son. As does Artoria/Arthur, who appears along with him. David is much more humble and more of an archetypical good king, and despite them all being in sync, Artoria seems much more balanced, happy, and less restrained with her emotions here. She’s also perfectly willing to acknowledge Mordred as her child, and is pretty touched to know that you redeemed her, and that out of all the messages Mordred could have told Dante to pass on, it was a simple declaration of familial love.

• Adaptational Jerkass: As mentioned, despite the characters mostly using their Fate designs, or at least resemble age-adjusted versions of them, they often act more like how they were in history or their source material, with parts of their personality derived from Fate, much like in PA. And as you’re in Hell throughout the Inferno segment, many of your guest party members aren’t exactly the most pleasant people ever, even if they’re presented sympathetically.
  • Achilles. Full stop. Project Alter already presents him as more an Ineffectual Loner, a far cry from the jolly, lovable jock he is in Fate canon, but here his less pleasant traits from legend have been even more preserved, and he’s grown even more bitter and whiny. However, considering his situation and he’s been punished by the rules of a God he had never known about for probably a millennia by now, his bitterness is a bit understandable. And in a bit of a subversion, compared to legend he seems to have humbled out quite a bit, and is Ain't Too Proud to Beg when you come along. By the end, he’s even slightly starting to resemble his normal Fate counterpart at the prospect of receiving this “God’s grace” that you’ve been talking about.
  • It’s made clear that Alexander in the Violence circle for a reason. He is made likable for the first half of the level mostly by his personality, but when Dante almost gets caught up in his charisma Virgil and Chiron both are quick to tell him to snap out of it, and scold Alexander for trying to justify war crimes.
  • To a lesser extent, Paris. While he is indeed designed to look older and in Fate canon Paris is said to be summoned in his mental state as a child when everyone, including Apollo himself, thought he was way more likable, here how unlikable he was gets elaborated on further. He’s a whiny, petulant, cowardly brat to the extent that even Dante calls him such, and Dante and Virgil mostly recruit him out of pity and obligation because of Hector’s blessing. But even Hector calls him “My Idiot brother”, and tells you (and Virgil, more so Virgil) to talk some sense into him. Helen, who in this AU got the honor of going to Limbo, was also given the cathartic honor of going Screw This, I'm Outta Here to their relationship personally, so unlike Tristan, Lancelot (?), or Cleopatra, Paris doesn’t even have the solace that his lover with him is there with him somewhere (Which Helen was more than willing to tell him; quote, “You’re on your own now! Bye, Paris, and no thanks for all the lies you told me, my ruined life, and the war!”). His arc is basically you and Virgil having to convince the idiot how much he indeed ruined everyone’s life with his selfish actions. However, he isn’t outright terrible, and compared to most other sinners further down he’s still a saint.
• All-Loving Hero: By the end of the story, Dante hopes to become one of these.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Features some for historical figures, with elements taken from their main Nasuverse counterparts.
  • Dante himself, actually. Dante here is way more accurate to how he was in the original poem, or alternatively, the real person, than in most actionized adaptations, in that he's kind of cowardly, childish, and overall kind of a loser despite being a very respected poet. He doesn't faint as much as the original (maybe? This might be incorporated as a game mechanic), but he does even attempt to play dead once, to Virgil's exasperation ("Everything here is already dead, you dolt."). The real historical figure's arrogance is also made pretty clear (a flaw the real Dante also admitted he had), and the game isn't shy about him being a snob, stubborn, a social climber who insisted he wasn't because he had a massive inferiority complex regarding his humble beginnings, and as the author herself has also described him, "kind of a chuunibyo who had never grown out of it". These flaws are such that even some of your guest party members point them out and make fun of him for it. However, he's already a bit less of a passive protagonist, as he's central to the actual events of the story; his purpose there is not only for personal growth, but to bring God's light even deep into Hell to counteract Satan's evil, because as it turns out evil has grown so much in the world, especially from Florence, that Satan is actually starting to break out and that has made the conditions in Hell somehow even worse. (pending plot point) That and the game's theme of forgiving but not justifying contributes to Dante being a more dynamic character in general, as unlike in the original he sometimes argues with Virgil that someone is redeemable (which Virgil often meets with something to the effect of "Well, YOUR God banished them here, didn't He?"), and the biggest thrust of his development is in Inferno, while in the original he rarely did anything that went against Virgil's instructions until Purgatory because Virgil generally always knew what he was doing more than Dante ever did, and didn’t start the main crux of his character development until Purgatory. He also has some sarcastic banter with Virgil because the author wanted to keep the dialogue interesting. His development often more directly addresses the abovementioned character flaws Dante really had into his arc, so by the end he ends up in a very different place from how the real person did.
• Ambiguous Disorder: While not as much as the original, Dante still has a weird relationship with consciousness, having fainting spells, sleeping spells, and hallucinations at various points in Inferno, and a few times in Purgatorio. This is utilized usually to trigger flashbacks that elaborate on Dante's past and how what he's going through connects to it, or to give you a look into an NPC or guest party member’s memories or thoughts; the latter suggests that this may also be an effect of holy magic, or at least, Dante’s disorder is being hijacked by it to assist him in his and the party member’s growth. While Dante insists that they've always been some kind of holy sign and even starts at one point to cook up a divine conspiracy about how this meant he was always The Chosen One, all the while Virgil tries to convince him that it's probably some kind of disease.
• Ambiguous Ending: Unfortunately, the guest character arcs ultimately end in these. The idea behind Dante's journey in this version is the whole "He who casts the first stone" thing, with Dante being given the opportunity to redeem shades there to demonstrate that it's important to see the redeeming qualities in people instead of judging them, as that is ultimately only God's decision. However, because of that, you can't be certain whether the souls you chose would actually make it through Purgatory or not, and whether they do ever make it is never stated; you just sent them back for re-evaluation, though as one of the living you can offer a prayer to better their chances. Though the game still tries its hardest to get your hopes up a lot with them greeting you as they wait; with them wishing you luck, Lancelot, Mordred, Agravain, and/of Tristan asking you to tell their fellow knights that they might be expecting them, Mordred specifically telling you to tell Arthur/Artoria and her siblings in Heaven that she loves them, Chiron returning to reunite with his students and encouraging them... Though Word of God has stated that those who had deep psychological issues behind what they did, whose actions helped many, or are generally better people (e.g. Tristan, Mordred, NPCs Farinata and Brunetto) probably have a better chance.
• Anachronism Stew: Some Arthurian and Matter of France characters who show up or are mentioned were written into the legends after or have backstories involving events that weren't part of the mythos yet when the story takes place (E.g. You can meet Bradamante in Heaven). As they aren't fictional characters in this universe much like in Fate proper, they all existed and happened at the same time and thus are open for use.
• Ascended Extra: Pretty much all of the Guest Star Party Members in Inferno except for Odysseus had a few lines of description at most originally, with most being mentioned in passing at best, or in the case of Alexander, are merely implied.
• Barrier Warrior: Virgil. Though Dante can eventually learn to repel or at least cut damage from attacks and punishments in Inferno for shorter amounts of time with the Cross, Virgil is the most reliable for the first six circles or so at least, can apply the shields to the entire party, and if Dante’s Deflector Shields didn’t also have the ability to possibly damage enemies and Virgil actually becoming nerfed as the game goes on, you’d probably only ever need Virgil for defending yourself.
• Broken Bird: Despite being in the deepest circle of Hell, and Dante thinking to himself that surely, he wouldn't be finding anyone sympathetic down here, Mordred's state might be the most heartwrenching of the guest party members, especially considering how she normally acts. By the time you meet her, her eyes have lost their luster, and she is both terrified and in disbelief at the sight of you and Virgil, as you are literally the most sign of life or warmth she has seen in centuries. She's been there, frozen, alone, with only her thoughts and maybe the other sinners to keep her company. And while Dante and Virgil are understandably reluctant to recruit her, Dante says that it feels as if he's looking at a scared, desperate child more than one of history's greatest traitors, and Virgil notes how the ice covers her slightly less than the others, indicating that she might have some redeeming value, and determining that she is being genuine; so Dante melts the ice with the cross and they bring her along. For the rest of Caina she seems to be in a state of shock half the time, and you can just hear the lack of emotion in her voice from dialogue alone, but then she starts becoming awkwardly clingy around Dante because she's so desperate for warmth she doesn't care about how it looks anymore. In a heart wrenching parallel to Dante’s relationship with Virgil, she even deliriously calls you “Father”, and when Dante reminds her that he isn’t, she still clings onto him as if he were; it would be adorable if it wasn’t incredibly depressing. The rest of the level proceeds to be almost a concentrated world of hurt, and is quite possibly the most emotionally intense part of an already very emotionally intense game; especially after the encounter with Count Uglino, which here becomes somehow even more intense as Mordred suddenly snaps out of her trance and the two proceed to get into an irrational screaming match from the perspectives of a child and a father. (pending) Fortunately, by the time you meet Satan she's starting to regain some of her snarkiness and energy. Especially if you did things to move her development along, like let her hold onto your arm, or to let her huddle closer; as because she's been deprived for so long, to Dante and even Virgil's surprise, she shows herself to be actually pretty grateful for your help and receptive to any love she can get by late in the level. When you meet her again in Ante-Purgatory shortly after, she's finally starting to resemble the Mordred we all know and love, and she even has a grinning portrait. And if you rescued other knights in other circles before her, you get to see her happily reuniting with them.
• Butt-Monkey: Especially in Inferno, but in general, Dante just can't catch a break. Though at least he's being inconvenienced at most.
  • Paris also gets absolutely no respect, including from Dante who usually treats the other guests with at least token politeness initially; from the very first scene he shows up in the wind is sending him flying and crashing into you.
  • Jason also. His attitude, even if understandable, and objectively scummy actions in life don’t help at all.
• Crash-Into Hello:
  • This is basically how you encounter Paris in the Second Circle; the wind literally blows him into you, sending both of you flying and crashing into an emergency force field courtesy of Virgil.
  • And Dante is a victim of this yet again in the Fifth Circle, where you encounter Achilles by him being sent flying by someone he was fighting and straight into you, just like Paris. Unfortunately, this triggers the enraged warrior to attack you. (pending)
• Crutch Character: Enforced, in-story, with Virgil. For a good part of Inferno, he’s basically the only reason why Dante is able to survive in Hell at all, having much higher stats in you in every regard and force fields that help block out the punishments from hitting you instead of their intended targets, and he also has a “Talk” prompt where he can convince demons to get off your and your guest’s tail. (Pending) All of this can make the first four or so circles actually surprisingly easy because there’s probably a way Virgil can help you out of anything that might happen to your party. In the story as well, chances are that Virgil knows what he’s doing ten times better than you/Dante in any given situation. However, as you go deeper in Hell, Virgil gradually starts becoming less able to always get you out of trouble.
• Deadpan Snarker: Virgil. And he has every reason to be, because he's escorting Dante and a bunch of sinners through Hell, often leaving the job of Only Sane Man solely on his shoulders. Dante isn't a slouch in this regard either, though Virgil usually is the undisputed king of this. In Inferno, as everyone has been in Hell for way too long they may have also become a bit snippy, so depending on your party structure Inferno basically starts looking like a World of Snark.
  • Even Beatrice gets in on it after she appears in the story for real. Usually at Dante's expense.
• Deconstruction:
  • Unlike the original, the story specifically deconstructs the real Dante's many, many personal character flaws that he didn't address in his work, examining his self-image and personal complexes apparent from his work, and tackling them very much head-on. Dante is a deeply flawed man who has been molded by his surroundings and many personal insecurities, a man whose escape has been artistic expression, who was growing up in a rapidly changing city that was already changing faster than he could keep up with since he was a child. It's made apparent by the end how unhealthy Dante’s obsession with Beatrice is, as he latched onto her after she had shown him kindness all those years ago. The people in Dante's life he never mentioned in his works like his father and wife also become relevant, the former who he didn't appreciate enough in life for his poverty, and the latter who he didn't realize he was isolating and neglecting so badly, and Dante gets some What the Hell, Hero? regarding his whole being unable to see some who care about him thing. However, the story then goes on to try to take them lead into positive character development, so that ultimately, in the end, him realizing the extent of his own flaws and working to face them leads to him becoming a much better person for it so he can earn that happy ending and keep it a classical comedy. [[spoiler:The final scene of the game before the credits is, after paying respects to his parents' grave, going home and apologizing to his wife, and the first of two Stingers shows that Gemma, unlike her historical counterpart, came along with him in his exile.

• Deliberate Values Dissonance: The author is agnostic, but she deliberately wrote the work as if she were a Catholic, for the most part, with Catholic values in mind. Granted, she made one big exception for the central theme of forgiveness, as the concept of sin and forgiveness in the story is more in line with the Protestant view of it. And things that are bad even by modern secular standards as well tend to get emphasized more, and those who have less serious offenses by secular standards tend to get way more sympathy, even if not excused, from Dante and the narrative, often with more of them being open for Redemption and leading to discussions about morality.
  • Like in the original stated to be why Limbo exists. Though Aristotle mentions offhand something like them having to go through trials too to punish them for things like pedophilia, which God only barely gives a pass because that was such completely normal behavior to them that even the great minds of their time didn’t think to argue much against it. Though Dante justifiably reacts with horror when it’s brought up (contrary to popular belief, child weddings were only a thing in the Middle Ages mostly for political purposes, so the idea of actually being attracted to a prepubescent child would have probably also been at least bizarre to them).
  • Virgil, despite being mostly stoic and fatherly for most of the work, has little patience for those in the Circle of Fraud. Especially Odysseus. Dante, knowing mostly Virgil’s version of events, takes his side initially, but as Odysseus explains how he I Did What I Had to Do, he starts having second thoughts, to Virgil’s annoyance. This is due to Roman values, which tended to value honesty and honor over pragmatism. Granted, he’s still a brutally practical, ruthless tactician who was willing to let innocent people die to end the war, but he still stopped a 10 year long, agonizing siege in one night.
• The Devil Is a Loser: Played with. The Satan of this game is more coherent and intelligent than Dante's original version, is a legitimate threat, and he also attempts to systematically push both your and Mordred's buttons. However, he also acts like a giant pathetic mainchild, with dialogue to match, and unlike Mordred's vulnerability, his childishness only makes him look even more whiny and hatable, though it's also extremely pitiful. And oh, his ultimate motivation? To keep everyone in Hell with no chance of salvation because if he has to suffer, so does everyone else. Mordred breaks out of his appeals to the "Not So Different" Remark and brushes him off, which subsequently encourages Dante to go Shut Up, Hannibal! and defeat him.
  Virgil: To think, for the root of all the world's evil, for it to ultimately be nothing but such a pitiful, pathetic creature...
• Dramedy: The bleak tone of the Inferno segment doesn’t mean the entire thing is joyless, making it into a comedy in the modern sense in a way as well. Especially if your guest party member is one of the more lighthearted types despite their circumstances. The tone can quickly bounce from horrifying to depressing to heartwarming to Black Comedy to actually kind of lighthearted several times within the same level. One of the most notable is a part in the Eighth Circle at the pit of corrupt politicians, where, as Dante has another crisis with himself as he reflects on how he might become yet another corrupt politician in the political pit of chaos that his home city has become, he, Virgil, and Jason are escorted by a group of bickering demons... one of who uses his farts as a trumpet. Though these demons, fart trumpet included, are basically acting just as they did in the original.
• Exposition Fairy: Basically Virgil (in Inferno and the first half of Purgatorio) and Beatrice's (in the later half of Purgatorio and Paradiso) roles. Though Chiron sometimes takes the reins in the first third of the Seventh Circle.

• God Is Good: Much like in PA, but here it’s a more central focus for obvious reasons. Much respect is paid to theology and the Christian philosophy at the time and the author has stated she wanted to write it as if she were an actual Catholic, save for the stuff that really, really didn’t age well. This is despite the author being Agnostic and it influencing some of the writing (I.e. much more leniency on those of different faiths; for example, Mohammad is omitted entirely from Inferno, no Mosques are outside the City of Dis, the former Agnostic NPC in Limbo who marvels that God indeed existed but still wonders why he never shows himself more, how much like in Fate there’s implication much that certain faiths may be judged completely differently (in an Easter Egg on the very, very edges of Limbo, after walking something over twenty minutes, a dark-skinned child can suddenly run in from the right of the screen from a portal and bump into you, apparently lost, before a sprite that is clearly Karna comes to get the child and tells him that he’s gone off limits, questions how he was even able to get there, and drags the kid away, presumably to where the Hindus are supposed to belong. And other Abrahamic religions are also treated as if they were Christians, with Saladin being found in Heaven, not Limbo, due to still being a defender of God’s faith).
• Gold and White Are Divine: Used a lot. Beatrice's color scheme for one features primarily white and gold, with the Cross of Salvation also sharing said color scheme. As the latter is the only thing with this color scheme you have with you while in Hell, it especially, quite fittingly for what it represents, stands out. Also a dominant color scheme in Heaven for this reason, and Dante identifies Jesus, even as a griffin, with the color of his plumage being such.
• Good Parents: Unlike the game that somewhat inspired this one, a more historically accurate picture of Dante's parents, moreso his father as his mother doesn’t show up much, are painted from flashbacks; he first appears as a good father teaching a young Dante about the love of God and the good of the Papacy, but despite it, in a later flashback, he refuses to engage a gang of Ghibellines throwing abuse at them, telling him that it's not worth it. He's encountered waiting to enter Purgatory, boarding the boat Dante is on, to Dante's shock. He reveals he was a usurer, something which Dante had apparently heard about through rumor but he never took seriously because his father always hid it from him, telling him that he worked in "trade", also working as a notary as a front. Dante obviously doesn't like this, but it's made clear that he did it to give Dante a good life and to support him in his artistic ventures and education, and that he had no real option because he was poor. His inactivity in political affairs also wasn't worthy of him getting punished as an Opportunist because, despite nominally being a Guleph, it was for his family's safety. Because of that and that he prayed for forgiveness upon death, he was spared from Hell.
• Guest-Star Party Member: The major draw of the concept is that there’s a long list of Servants who can potentially serve as this, with who you end up with being randomly generated. Though other Servants other than the one in your party may also show up and be redeemed, your party member is the one you get to learn about most. They later again rejoin the party temporarily in Purgatory. Though in Limbo, as no one there has really done anything wrong, they’re just there to show you the ropes and wish you luck. (To be added, not spoilered for now. May make it possible for there to be multiple guest party members)
  • Limbo: Caesar, Penthesilea, Lavinia, Hector, or Arash
  • Second circle: Tristan, Semiramis, Paris, Lancelot (?), Nero (?), or Cleopatra
  • Fifth circle: Achilles (was originally in the Second Circle), Brynhildr (?) (not in the original poem), Agravain (?) (not in the original poem), Boudica (not in the original poem), Gaheris (?) (not in the original poem)
  • Seventh circle: Alexander the Great, Attila (design considerably altered); Ozymandias (here named as “Ramses”) could maybe (?) join the party later. While not as a sinner, Chiron joins the party as well, and can serve as a mount to traverse certain terrain.
  • Eighth circle: Jason joins early in the level as the third party member and Odysseus later as the fourth.
  • Ninth Circle: Mordred. This circle is notably only circle where only one party member option is possible.

• Holy Hand Grenade: Your chief weapon aside from your spear is your Cross of Salvation, a crucifix that was blessed specifically to help Dante on his journey; yes, it has the ability to beam damned souls up into Purgatory, but it can also cast spells to harm them and demons by channeling God’s light and/or the power of the souls you saved through it (as well as, if you will it enough, summon a literal angel). It also acts as a torch, source of warmth, and general-purpose momentary evil repellent, and can also somehow return shades to some of their original combat capability and magically enhance them too. Despite how central the latter is to the combat, even Virgil doesn’t know how the latter works and just tells Dante to basically roll with it when asked about it.
  • Also, apparently Virgil’s magic was also specifically blessed onto him temporarily so he could get Dante out of trouble, though as you go into the really deep circles of Hell they start becoming noticeably more spotty; as as a pagan, it’s much harder to sustain it on him, apparently.

• Holy Is Not Safe: The holy magic the Cross of Salvation can unleash was a bit nerfed by Beatrice because of this, but especially initially Dante still can’t use too much power from it and has to be really careful with handling it. While it gives off a pleasant warmth to and can even heal all those with at least some good in their hearts, when a mortal or any soul but the most pure is exposed to more God’s light than they can handle it can cause a lot of harm, and in its purest form it can burn a person’s face off. At best. This is used as an in-universe explanation for the leveling. Hence, the spells Dante has start pretty weak. When he summons an angel outside the City of Dis shows how much he has progressed as a character, but he is still unable to look at the angel directly and feels burning pain at the sight, showing that he still has a very, very long way to go. Even the powerful spells you’re given against Satan are Cast from Hit Points.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: One NPC to be found in Heaven is, surprisingly, a former prostitute. This is because she sacrificed her honor, reputation, and safety so her family could eat, and that sacrifice, plus the fact that she wasn’t intentionally wrecking any homes or really ruining anyone’s life, means she is good in the eyes of God.
• Humans Are Flawed: The ultimate message, much like a lot of Project Alter itself, even if unlike Project Alter perfection is still treated as the best. In fact, one of the reasons why Dante, for all intents and purposes some self-aggrandizing loser who just happens to be an exceptional writer, was sent on this quest instead of, say, Jesus himself, was apparently that Dante, because he's a very flawed, normal human yet not an awful one, might be able to make even denizens of Hell more receptive to the love of God and be able to learn from his journey while he could.
• Idiot Ball: Intentional example, lampshading a weird instance of this in the source material, and used to highlight how Virgil's ability as a guide is slipping a bit. In the Eighth Circle, Virgil believes the directions from literal demons are perfectly reliable. Despite that they're literally in the Circle of Fraud. And Dante expressed his reservations about it. Oh, and this triggers a battle. Even a NPC Hypocrite makes a snide remark about this, and even Jason is quick to point out how bafflingly stupid that was as well.
  Dante: Virgil... Why, why did you trust them?
  Virgil: Well...
  Jason: You trusted demons. In the Circle of Fraud. We're literally here for being liars. So I've gotta ask... Are you actually nuts?!
• Impoverished Patrician: [[Dante's own family, as much as he hates admitting it. They were already of such minor nobility that Dante's father didn't even remember what their title was anymore, but Dante grew up in a humble background, to say the least. He was ashamed of this fact to a very extreme extent, and despite regularly expressing distaste for the Nouveau Riche immigrants flocking to Florence in the last few decades, he himself was probably about as poor as the average economic migrant. One flashback he has in one of his fainting episodes shows him as a child, where after bragging to other aspiring artists like him about how he's rich enough to have his own room and how his father holds way more power in the city than they would think, comes home and we get to see his childhood home; a small house that, while not completely awful, has clearly seen better days, almost tripping over a rat as he greets his father, who is tending to his mother's fever. He was arranged to be married to his wife partly because his father wanted to at least hope to give him a noble life like he always wanted and he knew how embarrassed Dante was of his humble origins. Dante's ancestors from the original poem are also made much more humble in background, and the furthest back, his great-grandfather, was ironically a peasant who escaped his Lord to try to make something of his own in Florence (pending)]].
• Irony: Whereas a big theme in the original Inferno was that punishments in Hell are eternal, here the overarching non-theological theme is forgiving but not justifying, what with the Cross of Salvation being the central mechanic.
  • This results in Dante's development basically being flipped over completely in Inferno. Whereas in the original Dante becomes less and less sympathetic to the sinners (by the end declaring that opening the eyes of a sinner so he could see was not needed, because "for to be rude too such a one as him was courtesy.", to show him rejecting sin, here it's completely backwards.
  • A more minor one, but whereas in There Once Was a Spot Known as Camelot/Project Alter, especially in UTAU covers, Mordred compares herself to Satan and Artoria to God sometimes, in a vaguely Paradise Lost way before Paradise Lost was written - expressing both the idea that she is a fallen respected "angel" (knight) and her deeply rooted insecurities which make her believe that comparison to such an ugly creature is apt - here, she defeats Satan himself with Dante, on behalf of God no less. Satan even tries pushing her buttons by trying to pull a "Not So Different" Remark on her and Dante, but she actually brushes off his manipulation before him, motivating our hero to do the same. Because unlike Satan, she's seeking redemption now and wants to change for the better. In fact, her Noble Phantasm channeled through the Cross of Salvation is the final blow needed to chain Satan down into the ice once more. And if all goes well, she'll one day be able to go home to the real Heavenly kingdom, by the side of her father, once more.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While usually Virgil rebukes them if unjustified, it is only somewhat less common for a damned soul to bring up a good argument that puts holes in the reasoning for why they’re there, or bring up some hypocrisy with the whole thing.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Dante. He has an obvious chip on his shoulder, is a snarky, self-righteous jerk, has way too high an opinion of himself and his ability as a cavalryman, shows himself to be a bit of a suck-up and a hypocrite, and was not able to recognize how much his parents sacrificed for his sake or how much he was neglecting his own wife, not even attempting to establish a friendship with the latter while openly fixating on Beatrice, a girl he didn't even know all that well. It also becomes apparent that his childhood has made him painfully insecure, making him overcompensate, and that he has a terrible tendency to hold grudges. Note, some of these traits are punished in Hell. However, it's also made progressively clear that he does have a heart of gold under there, which is made to show itself more often as the story goes on, and he starts coming across as increasingly more forgiving than Virgil. And ultimately, his lifelong mission has always been and still is to bring virtue into a chaotic world, and he's always done things for what he perceives is the good of wider society, whether it be burying himself in philosophical struggle, his writing, or participating in city government.
• Jerkass Woobie: Inferno is full of these, inherently, some more forgivable than others. Your party especially consists of a lot of these.
  • It becomes increasingly clear that Dante himself is one; at the start, he's merely a bit of a snarky jerk, albeit an extremely pompous jerk, but due to being surrounded by people he respects to some extent the former at least isn't too blatant. Then, you get to find out more about him and his many, many deep flaws as he begins to realize them himself; and also, much like with other characters, how he, a man who grew up not in a not quite dirt poor but still rather impoverished household with an embarrassing Ambiguous Disorder, in a volatile, unstable, rapidly changing city where people were constantly at each others' throats, turned out that way.
• Loser Protagonist: For all his skills as a writer and intelligence, Dante has been described by the writer herself as “a genius, but a salty loser". At the beginning of the game, he's stubborn, petty, frankly kind of childish and rather pathetic, has an obvious chip on his shoulder, and thinks way too highly of himself to the point of delusions of grandeur, bragging about his supposed great performance in battle in Campaldino... Right after having run screaming from the three beasts (Pending), and subsequently again showing himself to be such a coward that even Paris, if you recruit him in the Second Circle, laughs at his expense for it. Generally, while not a bad person per se, it's obvious that he's extremely flawed and that these flaws run very deep.
• Not So Stoic: Virgil has moments like this (particularly if he gets especially frustrated with Dante or the guest party members), and he isn’t nearly as infallible as the original poem presents him to be, but they culminate in the Eighth Circle, demonstrating that his worldly logic isn't enough this far down into Hell, where he lets his cultural values immediately cloud his judgement of Odysseus, and becomes extremely indignant when Dante reminds him that Chiron gave them his blessing to bring him along. (pending) Though on the other hand, as you go on, he also starts acting more warmly around Dante and more obviously protective, and by the time of the Seventh Circle Virgil finds himself accidentally calling Dante “My Son”. This leads to Chiron and Virgil discussing their duty as mentors, for once showing Virgil’s side of what they’ve been through for the past few days, and the name sticks, with Dante calling him Father in turn. Dawwww. Throughout the game he becomes progressively more obviously caring towards Dante from the detached stern mentor persona he had originally, and by the time he leaves you, telling you how he enjoyed traveling with you, his portrait shows him smiling.
• Psychological Horror: The Inferno segment: the messed-up psyches of the denizens of hell, in particular your guest party member, contribute as much if not more to the horror in addition to the imagery and bleak tone. Though the Inferno segment is generally more depressing and tragic than horror overall.
• Magic Staff: Virgil’s weapon is one of these; he can use it to cast Deflector Shields, but may also be capable of unleashing some powerful charged attacks if needed. It’s also useful when bonking Dante on the head or shins. Dante’s Cross on the other hand functions more like a Magic Wand.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Unfortunately, one of the problems with still incorporating the interactions from the original with those who have no Servant design is to make a new one. While some adjustments are made to the other characters so they don't stick out too much, those who are recruitable can tend to stick out a lot, especially if they have Anime Hair or are more on the Bishounen side. Dante straight-up lampshades that they Greeks they recruit have a strange lack of beards.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Dante has so many such moments in Inferno that you'll be seeing this portrait of him a lot. Hilariously, the file name for the portrait is labeled "Mamma_mia.jpg" in data.
  • Virgil has a moment of this just outside the City of Dis when his "Talk" prompt is denied by the demons guarding the gates and his force fields get punctured, in the first time in the entire game he shows any sign of fear. This also subsequently triggers this reaction in Dante, especially as the demons start increasing in number... And then Medusa shows up. Oh, and you have no other party members. And Dante can’t even look at Medusa because as a mortal he can be turned to stone, though she’s also capable of momentarily paralyzing Virgil. It looks like a massive boss battle is about to trigger with over 20 high-level monsters, with Virgil as your only party member, who is starting to become way less overpowered than he was in the early game, but then Dante prays for help and ends up summoning a literal angel.
  • Virgil has another one of these in the Eighth Circle when the Malebranches turn on the party, as are the rest of the party who are also calling him out for taking said demons at their word when they’re literally in the Circle of Fraud.
• The One That Got Away: As it turns out, Beatrice, just like in real life, and in the final challenge of his spiritual journey he has to move on from her, which is pretty much the opposite direction the original went in. At the end of Heaven, it’s revealed that Beatrice and the "Beatrice" Dante knew are two separate people, just Identical Strangers; or rather, she's an agent of God named Beatrice who took on the form of Beatrice "Bice" Portinari, while "Bice" had just ascended from Purgatory. Her journey, as noted by Holy Woman Beatrice, was indeed impressively quick in that she got a fast-pass through Ante-Purgatory and it took her "just" about a decade to get there for being such an upstanding person, but she was still in Purgatory nonetheless. The above final challenge just before he meets God has them finally be able to have a heart-to-heart for the first time. Though Dante was right in a way in that Beatrice would lead him to salvation, he just had the wrong Beatrice.
• Only Sane Man: In Inferno and to a lesser extant Purgatorio, more often than not, Virgil. While Dante is a relatively normal person all things considered, he’s also rather eccentric and a coward, as such for most of Inferno Virgil is stuck as the most level-headed of the party. Dante may still join in depending on who’s in your party, however.
• Reality Subtext: More of the reality subtext from the original work, mainly regarding the political conflicts in Florence at the time, is woven into the poem than one would expect. There are flashbacks interspersed showing Dante’s life in Florence throughout the game, showing such things as his childhood in poverty and witnessing the two factions fighting in the streets, his father before his relationship with him became distant assuring him of the good of the papacy, his time working in the administration of Florence, his horror at the news that the old pope was imprisoned, etc., often trigged by non-recruitable but important NPCs who reveal more and more to the player about how fractured Florence has become, but at the same time also how it isn't as simple as it seems. There is also a “bonus” cutscene unlocked early which shows Dante going about his day and just barely escaping a political brawl. Dante notes how the lower he goes into hell, the less forgivable the sins are because the more he can attribute them to tearing his city apart, but he becomes progressively more aware of his part in it and the petty drama of his own faction. At the end of Inferno, Lucifer cites the many, especially then-current Medieval, political events, wars, and conflicts that have occurred since the Death of Christ as the reason he has been regaining his power recently; particularly the Italian civil wars, which he is more than happy to gloat about with how the ones supposedly appointed to be God's agents on Earth are causing so much pain and suffering because of political ambitions, though he also brings up things like political meddling in the Crusades, antisemitic pogroms, the splitting of the church, and possibly references the Black Plague that is to come in the future. Dante’s great-grandfather in Heaven goes on and spells it out further, telling him about how Florence used to be and his impending exile; but he notes how it was also the city that gave him a second chance, much like the many immigrating to it are also hoping to have. He also talks about how his rest of his life will be like his personal Hell, but to not let it break him.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: While Dante isn’t exactly Hot-Blooded, he is still more stubborn, pompous, childish, and emotional than Virgil, who is written as basically reason in human form. Much like in a lot of media based off of them, they're also given the color schemes to reflect this; Dante wears red robes and has light brown, almost amber eyes, while Virgil casts spells with and emits a bluish glow, wears white robes with blue accents, and has purple eyes.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Actually pretty on the Idealistic side, even the extremely bleak Inferno segment. The main theme appears to be that almost everyone can be redeemable, and even those who God has seemingly abandoned may have a chance if they see the light. Also, even the best among people, including many denizens of Heaven, can have sins they had to fight, just like the rest of us.
• The Stoic: Virgil, being the embodiment of human reason and logic he is, isn’t exactly too emotive. His voice is described as measured and methodical, and he never freaks out at even some of the most horrific imagery Hell has to offer. Though even then he has his moments.
  • Completely inverted with Jason; in the original, he’s specifically noted to be enduring his punishment without complaint. Here, he may be the most bitter and cynical of the shades, and that’s saying a lot, and he may be as prone to extreme reaction as early game Dante.
• Surprisingly Happy Ending: This is all but stated not so much for the story as a whole, but for one character arc in particular; that being the arc of your original party member, Virgil. After the credits, we get to see Virgil, once again in Limbo, at a desk, reflecting on the adventure. Then, the ground rumbles, and a light appears just off screen. Virgil, surprised, stands and looks towards the light. Text, apparently from nowhere, appears, stating "Thou hath done much to serve the Lord, wise poet. Thou hath waited long enough". Virgil's portrait displays a rare, heartwarming smile only seen one other time in the entire game, and all he says is "Oh... Can it be?". The scene ends right here, but the implication is that Virgil will eventually make it into Heaven as well, because of the service he's done to guide you.
• Tempting Fate: Just before you jump down to the final circle of Hell, Dante asks Virgil “Surely, there cannot be anyone deserving of sympathy here, can there?”, which Virgil replies saying he has good reason to suspect so. Dante figures that the place is so cold and dark because God’s light doesn’t reach it... Then you meet Mordred, dead-eyed, disheveled, and absolutely broken, more scared child than knight.
• Token Good Teammate: Aside from the main characters themselves and Chiron, out of all the recruitable characters in Inferno, Tristan is probably the most cut and dry case, as his "lust" was the result of a love potion, and he's generally still a great guy, even if he doesn't completely regret his relationship with Iseult. While other characters might have good justifications for what they did (or maybe not), he's probably the most straightforward good guy.
• Quieter Than Silence: The Ninth Circle has no background music. There is nothing but the howling of the wind, your footsteps, clinking when you hit something, and some ambient tingling noises. And it only adds to the loneliness and depressing atmosphere of the level. You only get relief once you finally fight Satan, because there aren’t even any enemy demons in this level (Pending).
• Undead Barefooter: As in illustrations for the original work, everyone but Dante, the search party who comes looking for him at the very end, and his wife just before the credits roll is barefoot (outside of flashbacks, where the character sprites have shoes added onto them). Some of the souls also recognize you as one of the living this way.
• We Cannot Go On Without You: As You Can't Kill What's Already Dead, and holy magic, it may seem odd that Dante or Virgil “dying” means Game Over. However, Dante is still alive and thus death still means death to him, and Virgil can only manifest again all the way back in Limbo, so if he “dies” Dante is still out of luck.
• You Can't Kill What's Already Dead: Because of this principle, in Inferno, after some time, all enemies can respawn. This also applies to all the souls, though you still want to keep other party members “alive”, because they respawn back at their original place specifically; which means Virgil respawns all the way back in Limbo, effectively giving you a game over, and you have to engage in annoying backtracking and having to take them back from a demon for other party members (Pending). As such, as despite the stopping of certain bodily functions like the need to eat or drink and being given things like incredible resistance to heat and cold, and not physically showing damage as if he were dead, Dante is very much alive, and he’s the only one who can truly die. Unfortunately, not even Virgil knows exactly what would happen if a mortal were to actually die in Hell... And if Virgil “dies”, we get to read some lovely final dialogue from Dante as he cries out for Virgil in terror and to God as demons close in on him, about to face whatever that unknown fate is.