Demon Lord Dante is a manga created by Go Nagai in 1971, taking inspiration from Dante's Divine Comedy. It received two manga remakes decades later and an anime adaptation in 2002. The characters and concepts were later adapted and used for the creations of Devilman and to a lesser degree Mazinger Z. And in early 2013 a Demon Lord Dante vs Getter Robot G manga was released.
The series tells the story of Ryo Utsugi, a college student who encounters the demon Dante who later turns out to be his past life from prehistoric times. Receiving Dante's powers after being devoured and fused by him, Ryo finds startling information about the demons appearing and the present humans of Earth. The demons being the original human inhabitants of Earth having gained their current forms from unintenionally absorbing energy from an invading energy being and absorbing the plants and animals of that time. This same energy being, later called God wanted to become whole by fusing together with human hosts. When the later demons refused; God forcefully evolved apes into modern day humans, causing a war between them. After many years humanity forgot their origins and the demons returned. Regaining his memories as Dante from various sources including Dante's friend Zenon; Ryo decides to fight back against the god evolved humans and God itself.
While Demon Lord Dante was not as popular as its successor Devilman, it did play a major role in future series of Dynamic Productions.
When designing the Mazinger Z, Nagai was inspired by the idea that a human face appearing from Dante's forehead controlled the Demon Lord. Finalizing the design, the Mazinger was complete.
The main villain from the Devilman anime, Zannin was designed after the demon Zenon, who appeared as the leader of the demon tribe after being freed by Dr. Hell in both Mazinger Z vs. Devilman and Mazinger Angels.
God in Mao Dante.
The Emperor of Darkness has a similar design to the character God from the original Demon Lord Dante manga.
The Vega Beast Buebue, resembles a white colored Dante.
In Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact!, Dante's form appears after the Kedora takes over the Mazinger Z and envelops the robot; emphasizing the metaphor that the Mazinger can become a demon when used to destroy.
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