Dante is one of the Dalmatian puppy siblings of the Dalmatian family and a character in the TV series 101 Dalmatian Street.
Background[]
Personality[]
Dante is a goth pup who lacks positivity in his mindset and is paranoid, often thinking the world will end at any moment. He also has the ability to change his voice to something more intimidating, mostly used by him for dramatic effect on how supposedly doomed he and his siblings are in a situation. Another pastime of his is lurking in the shadows; when questioned why he lurks in the shadows, his response is that it's the best place to do so. He's convinced disaster is always just around the corner, often yelling about the end of the world in a dramatic matter.
Despite his pessimistic behaviour, Dante is generally a good (if paranoid) pup who means well. He cares about his family and most of his predictions seem to be motivated by a desire to look out for them (even if his outlook would have a negative impact on his younger siblings). When Dizzy and Dee Dee run off to "find pirate treasure" in some dangerous caves, Dante is concerned for his younger sisters and helps look for them and tries warning Dylan about how evil Bessie the cow (who sent Dizzy and Dee Dee to the caves in the first place) is. He's also able to enjoy happier moments with his siblings, such as watching the fireworks and going on vacation together.
When someone listens to his predictions, he’s really surprised and happy about it.
Physical appearance[]
Dante is an inverse color Dalmatian, being black with white spots, with the exception of purple spots on his left ear, purple paws, and tail tip. He wears a spiked gray collar and has dark pink bags under his eyes. He also has gray nose and eyebrows.
Compared to his siblings, he seems to be one of the oldest puppies, possibly surpassed only by Dolly and Dylan.
Role in the series[]
Dante's first major appearance is in "Power to the Puppies", where he predicts that division and disaster (also rain) are coming to Dalmatian Street, based on a dream he has.
Throughout the episode, he keeps proclaiming about the disaster coming, seeing the events as what he predicted, and reminding Dolly and Dylan how he did try to warn them. He later joins Dylan in the tree house, when Diesel becomes Top Dog, and when Dolly comes in asking for help, with the two admitting their faults, Dante groans about how they're depressing even him and asks them to do something about the situation.
His next prominent role is in "Crushed Out", when he assists Fergus in doing Dylan up get Portia Poodle's attention, transforming Dylan into a goth pup whom Portia calls "Danny".
In "Flea-Mageddon", he warns about impending disaster, first by claiming there to be famine (meaning they're out of Chewie Snacks), before drawing attention to Diesel scratching, making Dylan realise they have fleas. Dante is part of the main group that are not infected with fleas. However, when Dolly suggests taking the pups to the park to use the merry-go-round to fling the fleas off of them, Dante points out that they could risk infecting others on the way there. At that very moment, Dylan hugs him and notices fleas appearing on Dante (not realizing the true source of the fleas was a space rock he is wearing). Dylan sadly sends an understanding Dante to quarantine the basement until they learn the source of the fleas and are able to get them off the other Pups.
Trivia[]
- His name comes from Dante Alighieri, best known for his poem the Divine Comedy, which tackles a person's life when a world is ended.
- Due to the color of his fur, Dante is different from the usual appearance of a Dalmatian. He might be a melanistic Dalmatian.
- Given that in real life, Dante's appearance is genetically impossible to happen, it could be interpreted as a case of "cartoon logic."
- It's highly possible that the purple on Dante's fur and the pink bags under his eyes, which could just be his lower eyelids, are dyed instead of being naturally colored like that. This is further supported in "Crushed Out" with how Dylan's fur was dyed for his gothic makeover.
- This is further supported when Dante confirms that, despite his fur, he is a Dalmatian, in "Dante's Inferno".
- While Dante seems to be at the appropriate age to look after his siblings, it's highly unlikely that Dylan and Dolly would leave him in charge if they are occupied with something else. It's possible Dante's pessimistic and gloomy outlook would have a negative impact on his younger siblings.
- This would also explain why Dolly and Dylan would leave Dawkins in charge in spite of Dawkins seemingly younger than Dante.
- Dante has addressed the audience directly, namely to provide the recap during two-parters, such as "A Summer to Remember" and "The De Vil Wears Puppies".
Gallery[]