Known Smash Ultimate leaker Sabi has shared some rather unfortunate news about Capcom’s Devil May Cry protagonist Dante as it pertains to the final slot in the game’s Fighters Pass.
On November 26, Sabi explained how he had heard that Dante was “heavily rumored” for Smash, but wanted to speak with a trusted source about the rumor in an attempt to confirm it.
After speaking with someone with insider knowledge, Sabi relayed that the rumors were unfounded. At least as far as the fifth fighter was concerned.
Dante in Smash would have lined up nicely with the news that a special edition of Devil May Cry 3 would be coming to the Nintendo Switch in February 2020, around the same time the fifth fighter is scheduled to be released.
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The news may hit hard for professional Smash player Gavin ‘Tweek’ Dempsey, who told Dexerto he wanted to see Dante added to the game during an interview at DreamHack Atlanta.
Devil May Cry Director Hideaki Itsuno had previously spoken about the possibility of Dante appearing in Nintendo’s flagship fighting game.
“Well, think about it… I’m pretty sure that they… all the characters in Smash at least have some games on a Nintendo platform, right?” Itsuno told VG 24/7 back in February.
While he noted that Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud appeared in the game, Final Fantasy itself had a rich history on Nintendo.
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“Well, that’s the thing. Devil May Cry has never been on a Nintendo platform. So it seems like the first thing to do would be to get Capcom to put Devil May Cry on a Nintendo platform in some way, shape, or form – whatever game that might be,” he added.
Devil May Cry released for the Nintendo Switch a few months later and now has a special edition of the third game lined up.
It would appear that, according to Itsuno’s criteria, Devil May Cry would have enough of a presence on Nintendo to warrant a fighter in Smash.
Even though Sabi has dismissed Dante as the fifth fighter, there’s still the possibility that he makes his way into Smash as part of a second fighters pass.
Capcom also recently had Resident Evil get some Smash representation in the form of collectible Spirits, which will be coming to the game on November 29.
While the fifth fighter remains a mystery, many possible fighters have been debunked by the likes of Sabi and Vergeben. They include Doomguy, Geno, Ryu Hayabusa, Gordon Freeman, or anyone “Nippon Ichi Software related.”
Nintendo is expected to reveal the new fighter at The Game Awards on December 12 – the same event where the company unveiled Persona’s Joker as Smash DLC.