This article contains mild spoilers for “Devil May Cry.” 

Jackpot! Demon-hunting, gun-toting son of Sparda, Dante (Johnny Yong Bosch) has made his debut on Netflix in the brand new adaptation of “Devil May Cry.” Breathing life into the beloved video game franchise, the new series might have made its way into the best Netflix original animated shows for some, even if it’s plucking from another Netflix favorite in regard to what Dante is facing off against. Leading the charge out of Makai is the unhinged foe simply named White Rabbit. This anarchist is all about bridging the worlds between humans and demons and sending both dimensions into chaos, not unlike Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) from “Stranger Things,” and the similarities don’t stop there either. 

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In the gorgeous flashback sequences of episode 6, it’s revealed that White Rabbit (Hoon Lee) isn’t a demon at all, but a human that somehow stumbled into Makai, much like Vecna found his way into the Upside Down. Here, Rabbit befriended locals who were simply trying to get by in an atmosphere that was slowly killing them. At this point, the similarities between Dante and Eleven’s adversary start to fade because while Vecna was a monster from the beginning (and inspired by Game of Thrones’ villain, The Night King), Rabbit actually turned to darkness after his efforts to save his friends were foiled by humanity. It’s a compelling backstory for the show’s villain and one that provides even more complexity for a character that already has a place in the history of “Devil May Cry,” just not as detailed.

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Like a lot of characters in Netflix’s “Devil May Cry,” Rabbit is another key point in Dante’s history from the long-running franchise that has been drastically tweaked. Debuting in the “Devil May Cry 3” manga, the White Rabbit hires Dante to save Alice (a character that doesn’t appear in the new show), only for it to be all part of a scheme to see just how capable the son of Sparda really is.

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Unlike the White Rabbit in the new show, this iteration is very much a demon and not a human hiding behind a well-made mask. However, he, like the anime iteration, is also responsible for telling Dante that his brother Virgil is very much alive, setting him off on his mission in “Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening.” We can’t call it just yet, but it looks like Dante is going to take a similar path in being reunited with his brother, who was revealed to have been present through this entire explosive ordeal only in the form of Nelo Angelo, just like in the original “Devil May Cry” video game series.

As for White Rabbit, it would seem that his luck has well and truly run out in the series, and this is one villain that won’t be hopping back in on the action whenever “Devil May Cry” returns. Instead, Dante will have his own brother and head of Uroboros, Arius, teased at the end of “Devil May Cry.“ Poor Dante — the devil’s work really is never done.

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