The conversation that took place at Ninja Theory...
"Hey guys... I have a great idea. Let's make Dante new? LET'S MAKE DANTE NEW!"
"Okay... like how new?"
"Like imagine the old Dante, but if he looked like me! That's cool right? I wear affliction t-shirts and have a weirdly cropped haircut, that's a good idea I think!"
"But Tameem Antoniades, people will immediately backlash upon this new design. And once they see you, they'll put two and two together and immediately think that, handsome though you are, this "new Dante" you speak of will all be a ploy to get your face into a video game."
"Naaaaaaah, I don't think so. I DO think that you're fired however. You'll see guys, this will work out great!"
A few months later...
"What do you mean they don't like it? HE LOOKS LIKE ME, DO YOU SEE THIS HAIR THAT IS STRATEGICALLY PLACED IN FRONT OF MY EYES?!"
"We do Tameem Antoniades, but that's not what people think of when they see the Dante they love. This character design is flawed. Clearly you must see this."
"Clearly you'll be seeing yourself out. There's no room for mutiny on this project... unless you're Dante. Then you're a hardcore devil may care rebel. You're a badass in every sense of the word, who makes video games at Ninja Theory and you don't give a SHIT about anyone else. Especially your fan base... We'll see you in Hell... Oh wait we won't, because my new DMC is going straight to heaven it'll be liked so much...."
Months later still...
"Tameem Antoniades, you have to abandon ship! The story is going nowhere, we've lost all sense of continuity, and Capcom is wanting answers for all this backlash! Sir what do we do? WHAT DO WE DO?!"
"We do the only thing we can do..."
*Ring ring*
"Hello. This is Kenzo Tsujimoto, green lighter of all things terrible. How may I help you?"
*explanation*
"I know this is your first rodeo... so let papa bear make it all better... don't cry muh boy... don't cry..."
Today...
"And so you see, you can still have the Dante YOU love, but also fall in love with the Dante *I* love! See? Isn't that... great?"
tl;dr I tried being funny, but I probably wasn't.
