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Character Bios: Dante

Dante was Izumi Curtis' alchemy instructor. Several hundred years ago, Dante was Hohenheim's original lover. She had cheated death for centuries by transferring her soul into other bodies by using the Philosopher's Stone. However, the transfer was imperfect, as Dante's soul eroded with each transfer causing each new body to decay more quickly than the last. She can perform alchemy without a transmutation circle, an ability she gained at an unknown time in the past. She uses the symbol of a winged snake fixed on a cross which is passed on to Izumi, and then to the Elric brothers. It is meaningful that the symbol is the opposite of the Ouroboros worn by the Homunculi. It represents a fixation of the volatile principal in alchemy as opposed to the endless cycle represented by Ouroboros. In Dante's case, the symbol likely represents her belief that she is immortal and has conquered the cycle of birth and death as represented by the Ouroboros.

Dante is the leader of the Homunculi and used them to spark wars, so that many people will die and be used to create a new Philosopher's Stone. However, she has never actually created a Philosopher's Stone on her own: she either lacked the full knowledge to create a Stone or believed that anyone who created a Philosopher's Stone would die. Hohenheim's method of creating the stone certainly led to the death of his first body.

With a new Philosopher's Stone, Dante was planning on transferring her soul into Rose's body. It is unknown what becomes of Dante, but it is assumed that she is dead: she was last seen fighting off Gluttony while attempting to return to the surface where she expected to find Pride still in control of the country. And since her body was rapidly decaying at the time, even if she managed to fight off Gluttony, her remaining life would be limited.
-divinedragonking