Dante (Comic Series)

"Seemed logical. Listen, Maggie... don't cross these people. We need to be really careful. I couldn't see much... but I heard them... there were so many. It sounded like thousands."

- Dante to Maggie about his captivity with the Whisperers.

Dante is a character who first appears in Issue 131 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead. He is described as a crude, but hard-working know-it-all. Since he joined up with the Hilltop Colony, Dante is seen to show outstanding loyalty to his fellow community although he is overconfident at times. He is also one of the few who respects the fact that a woman is in charge of the colony. Dante has also taken an interest into Maggie Greene. Dante is also one of Maggie's right-hand men, along with Paul Monroe.

Personality
Dante is a crude, sarcastic, and mentally quick young man whose verbal wit and humorous nature are a force to be reckoned with. Due to his witty and relaxed nature, he sometimes tells jokes at inappropriate times and situations. Despite his demeanor, he is an incredibly resourceful and seemingly loyal young man who never lets his emotions get the best of him, keeping a cool and rational head.

Pre-Apocalypse
Not much is known about Dante's life before the apocalypse. He mentioned that he never married or had kids. Dante did, however, have an extended family.

Volume 20: All Out War - Part One
Dante is seen listening to Maggie Greene with the rest of the crowd.

A New Beginning
Dante is first shown tasting a new drink from Louie and Larry. Later he is asked by Maggie to lead a small searching party to find Ken. During said search, he reveals that he harbors feelings for Maggie, but acknowledges that he has little chance of succeeding because of her love for Glenn. After reaching the barn Marco said he had left Ken in, all three set off inside where they discover Marco's beanie, but not Ken. They are soon ambushed by the undead as they begin to make their way into the barn.

Trapped and surrounded by a massive number of roamers, Dante and his crew begin to fight back, carefully using a five step process to slowly dispose of the attacking roamers. After managing to almost kill the attacking roamer horde, two knife-wielding and seemingly talking roamers attack Dante and his crew. One of the crew, Doug, is quickly cut down by the talking roamers and not long after the other member of the crew too.

Outnumbered, but still determined to fight, Dante engages his attackers in brutal sword combat. He manages to decapitate one with ease and after a short sword duel manages to put down the second talking roamer as well. In a relative shock from encountering roamers that talk, Dante observes its corpse.

However, through careful inspection, Dante discovers that the talking roamer was wearing a mask and after removing it finds a normal human being inside. Wanting to confirm his discovery, Dante checks the body of the talking roamer he decapitated earlier, also discovering it was a normal human. Not mere moments after, Dante is jumped by another survivor with a roamer mask, who orders him not to move while holding him at gunpoint.

Whispers Into Screams
Dante asks the survivor not to shoot him and that their actions were self defense, and he responds by ordering him to answer their questions. He tells Dante that because his people attacked his group, they'll be observing their communities and they should be afraid.

Dante is later brought in with Ken when the Whisperers appear at the Hilltop gate, both unharmed. Their leader, Alpha, promises no war and offers a trade: her daughter Lydia for the two hostages. Maggie accepts and Dante is returned. While he's cleaning up, he informs Maggie that they were treated very well, but also advises not to cross the Whisperers: while they don't want war, there may be over a thousand of their people.

Life and Death
Dante is present at the group meeting when Maggie expresses concern over Carl fleeing after Lydia. He understands Carl's intentions, stating "first piece of ass you get it'll make you do crazy shit to keep it." Maggie looks over at him in anger, and Dante asks if he lost all chances he had with her. Dante is later seen with Maggie who says that Dante is going with Rick to find Carl as he is familiar with the area. Dante states that he's scared and that he wants Maggie to know he's only doing this for her. Maggie who's smiling notes this and says Dante isn't so bad after all. Dante leaves with Rick's group saying to Maggie he will carry her smile on his journey. Dante is seen riding horseback with Rick, Michonne and Andrea. Rick thanks Dante for helping them look for Carl and apologizes to him for him being short with him earlier. Dante expresses his fears about the whisperers to Rick stating that the way they communicate to one another is unnatural and disturbing. Rick expresses hope that Carl is alive and well and Dante states they have every reason to believe that Carl is safe. Shortly after, Rick's group is surrounded by whisperers with one of them offering to take Rick to Carl but only Rick. Dante, Andrea and Michonne are later kept under watch by the whisperers. Dante is seen sorrowful alongside Andrea and Michonne when Rick, Carl and Lydia discover the mounted heads of people that Alpha had killed.

Volume 25
Dante is seen watching Michonne's breakdown after seeing Ezekiel's zombified head. Andrea puts Ezekiel down and asks Dante, Carl and Lydia to help her put down the remaining heads. Dante acknowledges this and hands Lydia a knife and he proceeds to stab Amber and the other heads. As Lydia is putting down a head Michonne tackles Lydia to the ground and asks if she knew Alpha would do this and Dante says to Michonne to stop which she does. After Dante see's Andrea and Rick and Carl and Lydia embracing each other, he sighs and walks off to find Michonne. He asks if Michonne if she's okay which she harshly reply's "Do I look like I'm fucking okay? Do you think I should be okay? Dante quickly apologizes and says that he didn't mean to upset her. Michonne shrugs it off and says to Dante that he can help her start digging the graves to which he does. Dante is presumably back at the fair in Alexandria when Rick informs the citizens that he has terrible news regarding the missing 12 people.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Dante has killed:
 * Amber (Zombified)
 * Olivia (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
 * Carson (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
 * Ken (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
 * Luke (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
 * Tammy Rose (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
 * Two unnamed Whisperers
 * Numerous counts of zombies.

Maggie Greene
"Maybe you're not so bad after all"

- Maggie to Dante

Dante is shown to have feelings for Maggie. Though they aren't reciprocated, he is nonetheless loyal to Maggie and respects her leadership. Dante finds Maggie's authoritative attitude over him attractive, which only further fuels his wishes to be in a sexual relationship with her. Their relationship strengthens when Dante offers to go with Rick to find Carl. Dante states to Maggie that he's only doing this for her. Maggie who's smiling replies, "Maybe you're not so bad after all" which hints that she may return his feelings.

Doug
"Remind me not to get lost and count on you two to find me."

- Dante to Doug.

Dante and Doug had a stable relationship. Both are guards for the Hilltop Colony, and appear to be friends, however Doug's comments and his need to oppose Dante create tension between the two. Dante, however, was shocked and saddened after Doug's death, and avenged Doug by killing his murderer.

Appearances
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 * content =

Comic Series
====Volume 20: All Out War - Part One
 * Issue 118

Volume 22: A New Beginning

 * Issue 131
 * Issue 132

Volume 23: Whispers Into Screams

 * Issue 133
 * Issue 138

Volume 24: Life and Death

 * Issue 139
 * Issue 140
 * Issue 141 (No Lines)
 * Issue 142
 * Issue 143
 * Issue 144 (No Lines)

Volume 25

 * Issue 145}}