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“So! You think you're a better man than your father?”

Alighiero di Bellincione was Dante's father. He was a greedy, gluttonous, hedonistic and psychotic man who would arbitrarily steal the money, farm crops and property from the poor serf families on his land to finance his private parties with his friends. He was seen mostly in flashbacks, but he was encountered as a hideously disfigured monster boss in the circle of Greed.

History[]

Life[]

During Dante's childhood, Alighiero was a greedy and licentious man who abused his wife, Bella Abati, and berated his son, believing him to be weak. He stole from his vassals, using their money and supplies to host parties with his friends, as well as frequently engaging in affairs with multiple women. Because of Alighiero's actions as well as his abusive behavior, Bella eventually committed suicide, though he told Dante that she died from a fever, citing her weakness as the reason why her heart gave out. Shown through the connecting flashbacks of Dante's malevolent actions during the Crusades and his childhood, Alighiero's influence was revealed to be the cause of the darker aspects of Dante's personality.

When Dante was away at the Crusades, Beatrice stayed with Alighiero as she awaited her fiance's return. Shortly before his death, Alighiero stated his belief that his son was dead while attempting to seduce Beatrice, but to no avail. Seconds later, an assassin appeared and attacked them. Alighiero quickly gained the upper hand, pushing the assassin onto the ground. However, just as he was about to kill him, the assassin stabbed Alighiero in the eye socket with his own cross, killing him instantly.

In Hell[]

For his sins and wretchedness, Alighiero was sent to Greed, the fourth circle of Hell, and was turned into a morbidly obese, demonic abomination, with chains wrapped around his neck and limbs. He also appeared to have his right hand replaced with a pig's foot to symbolize his Gluttony and the flesh was torn from his stomach.

Alighiero wielded a giant golden cross that was adorned with jewels that was modeled after the same one that he wore in life, and eventually used to end his life as well.

When Dante first arrived in the fourth circle, he was surprised to meet his father, who taunted him about how much of a failure that he was in life. Dante shouted back, "I feared that I am too much the same man as my father." The father and son eventually fought at the Wheel of Fortune.

Dante defeated his demonic father and chastised him for being so full of greed and hate. However, rather than abandoning him, Dante stated that he will not be damned like his father and absolved him of his sins, exonerating him of suffering from eternal damnation for his crimes committed on Earth. By absolving his father, Dante gained the Sins of the Father spell which featured the same golden cross that Alighiero used as a weapon against his son.

At the end of the game, the absolved soul of Alighiero along with all of the other souls that Dante freed on his "pilgrimage" through Hell helped imprison Lucifer after his fight with Dante at Cocytus.

Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic[]

Alighiero's appearance in the film, Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic was very similar to his appearance in the game. He was first found murdered with his golden cross impaled through his eye. In Gluttony, Lucifer showed Dante a vision of Alighiero gorging himself while a starved, but disgusted Beatrice watched. After watching the scene play out, Lucifer informed Dante that his father was in Hell as well before disappearing.

Shortly after arriving in Greed and watching the Damned being tortured, Dante flashed back to a memory of Alighiero beating him and his mother after only 3 of his golden coins went missing from a pile of several hundred coins. Once the vision ended, Dante encountered a deformed Alighiero awaiting him on top of a demonic mechanical tower. He revealed that Lucifer promised him a thousand years free of torture and all of the gold that he could ever want if he killed his own son. Dante tried to convince his father to let him pass, but to no avail. Both father and son seemed to be evenly matched as they traded barbs. However, Alighiero managed to disarm Dante and rushed in for the kill. As he did, Dante kicked him into a giant pot of boiling gold.

Later, Dante had two more visions of Alighiero. Once, in Violence, consoling him after his mother killed herself, claiming that she died from a 'fever' and again in Fraud, trying to defend Beatrice from the assassin before being killed which was his only positive (If futile) act.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Enhanced Strength: He possessed immense strength to even lift his huge golden cross up with only one hand.
  • Enhanced Durability: Because of his corrupted form, he was able to endure most of Dante's attacks.
  • Sins of the Father: He was able to launch smaller crosses that acted like shurikens.
  • Greed-Based Attacks: He used several attacks based on Greed energies.
    • Cross Turrets: He slammed his cross into the ground where it acted like a turret, emitting Greed energy that damaged Dante when he got too close.
    • Charged Attack: He charged his cross with a great amount of Greed energy to create a big attack.
  • Agility - Despite his heavy appearance, Alighiero possessed superhuman agility that allowed him to leap from high places and land without injury.

Gallery[]

Quotes[]

In the Animated Movie[]

  • "There is no room to pity the dead here, son."
  • "You think that you're a greater man than me? That you're above reproach for your sins?"
  • "No man can absolve you of your sins, but some men can be rewarded in Hell."
  • "Lucifer offered me a thousand years free of torture and endless gold if I would slay my own son."
  • "You became me, son. You belong here. You always have."
  • "It's time to claim my prize, boy!"

In the Video Game[]

  • "Suffer like me!"
  • "I should have taken Beatrice for myself! Hahaha!"
  • "I would be alive if not for you!"
  • "Give it up, boy."
  • "I hoped that you're damned forever."
  • "This is real power!"
  • "So, you think that you're a better man than your father!"
  • "Then, we'll see who's the better man!"
  • "My blood is on your hands."
  • "You're not my son!"
  • "Even in death, I am stronger."
  • "She'll marry the devil first!"
  • "Go on. Use me as an excuse. Blame me for everything!"
  • "Where is that God that you fought for?! Hahahaha!"
  • "I am not responsible for the man that you are!"
  • "Your mother babied you!"
  • "What a disappointment that you are!"
  • "Out of my sight!"
  • "Are you man enough for this?!"
  • "Sins of the Father!"
  • "You know nothing about Hell!"
  • "This is for disappointing me!"
  • "She doesn't want you anymore!"
  • "I'm ashamed of you!"
  • "I knew that you would amount to nothing!"
  • "I'll cut you down!"
  • "You're nothing!"
  • "You're half a man!"
  • "Come on! Be a man!"
  • "You'll never take me!"
  • "My murder was meant for you!"
  • (Phlegmy laughter)
  • "All of this for a woman?!"

Trivia[]

  • In real-life, Alighiero di Bellincione, the husband of Bella Abati and the father of the famous poet Dante Alighieri, differed greately from his game counterpart. He was a respected Florentine moneylender and a good parent, according to the surviving documents. Upon his death, Dante was taken in by his mentor, Brunetto Latini.
  • His voice actor in the film is Mark Hamill. Coincidentally, Mark Hamill also did the voice of the antagonistic Watcher from the video game, Darksiders, which was a game that shares similarities with Dante's Inferno and God of War.
  • He is voiced by Chikao Ohtsuka in Japan.
  • Alighiero's demon form bore some resemblance to the Gluttons. However, unlike the Gluttons, he actually retained his intelligence.
  • In his demon form, Alighiero's right eye was noticeably more ravaged and bloody, likely serving as a grim reminder of his death from being stabbed through the eye with his own cross.
  • In one of Dante's flashbacks, while on the Crusades, Dante was seen engaging in excessive sex and drinking against Francesco's warnings, mirroring his father's behavior when he was a child. He even repeated the belittling line that Alighiero spoke to the young Dante to Francesco, "Who made you a priest?" It was implied that much of Dante's tendencies for sin are directly caused by his father's influence.
  • Alighiero's treatment toward Beatrice in the animated film was wildly different from how he treated her in the game. In the game, Alighiero wasted no time trying to seduce his future daughter-in-law. In the movie, Alighiero was never seen making any advances on Beatrice and quickly rushed to her defense when the assassin arrived, urging her to run as he tried to fight him off.
  • Alighiero's appearances in the anime are different from the game, but he still had his actions of Greed and Gluttony in the film.
  • In the game, he only said that Bella died from a fever, but in the anime, he told Dante after he said his line from the game that she was in Paradise (though it turned out to be the opposite).
  • He was never seen in the game beating Bella or Dante in any flashbacks, only in the anime. In the game, Bella mentioned being abused by her husband, which drove her to suicide. Furthermore, in the flashbacks, he was shown mocking his son when the boy attempted to warn Alighiero against his lustful excesses.
  • In the game, he was absolved by his son, while in the anime he was pushed into a boiling liquid of gold instead.
  • His sentence to the Greed circle with a Glutton appearance could be a reference to Gluttony being a desire to excess by overeating food and over-indulgence of wealth to a point of waste.
  • Ironically, despite being used as a ruse to seduce Beatrice, Alighiero's assumption that Dante would not survive the Crusades turned out to be correct.
Bosses
Death ·  King Minos ·  Cleopatra ·  Marc Antony ·  Cerberus ·  Alighiero ·  Phlegyas ·  Francesco ·  Lucifer
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