Earlier, it was Madhouse, and now, it’s Studio Mir that showed the courage to adapt one of the most popular video games, Devil May Cry, into an anime. The former’s version, which was released in 2007, stayed faithful to the video games, while the 2025 Devil May Cry is more of a reimagined story that draws inspiration from the video games and novels but also comes with an original approach.
For instance, it introduced us to the White Rabbit, the main antagonist of the series, and fans who are aware of the franchise can’t deny that he is just a minor character in the Devil May Cry 3 manga. However, Adi Shankar’s bold reimagination allowed him to take center stage in the anime. Despite pulling out of the antagonistic role well, I think he is the most misunderstood villain in anime history, and here’s my justification.
White Rabbit Isn’t Exactly a Villain in Netflix’s Devil May Cry
The White Rabbit appears as a badass villain in the 2025 Devil May Cry anime, who only wants to cause chaos in the world of the living. Well, that’s what Adi Shankar made us feel for the bunny-headed villain until Episode 6, The First Circle, which allowed us to learn his backstory. His childhood was never full of roses; he was an orphan who was forced to live with his abusive foster parents. One night, the boy stumbled into Hell, known as Makai, through a portal that opened in front of him.
He entered the gate with Alice in Wonderland’s book in his hand, as that was the only thing he was crazy about. He quickly bonded with Makai’s inhabitants and started seeing his family in them. However, soon, Mundus, the dark force who ruled Makai, started exploiting its resources and eventually made the place a living hell for the demons residing there. Time passed, and the boy grew up into an adult. He decided to help the demons find a place in the human world. However, he didn’t consider that humanity fears demons, and they might not allow them to coexist in their homeland.
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After arriving on Earth, he and the demons encounter Mary and her team, who fire bullets at them and don’t stop before eradicating them. The man survives and vows vengeance against humanity, particularly Mary and DARKCOM. He is an Alice in Wonderland fanatic, so he adapts the rabbit’s identity, stitches a new bunny mask for himself, and wears a suit. As the attack in the human world leaves him fatally injured, he takes the help of a valve that he attaches to his chest. The device helps him stay alive by pumping demons and human blood into his body. Hence, that’s when the innocent human dies and a psychotic villain is born.
The White Rabbit Launches a Rebellion Against His Own Kind
The White Rabbit finds a home in Makai that he had craved for on Earth. So, despite being a human, he starts seeing more of a human in the demons. After spending days with the Makai’s demons, he felt safe and carefree. So, when Mary and her team kill his demon family and leave him for dead, he vows revenge on them. However, even though his manipulation skills and killing instincts make him look somewhat like a hell of a villain, let’s not forget what brought him here.
It’s the way humans treated the outworldly creatures – not all the demons are killers. And that Devil May Cry allowed us to witness when a demon family helped Mary to hide from a demon, who wanted to kill her. Mary had a change of heart towards demons, but if it had happened earlier, the White Rabbit wouldn’t have been born. He could have stayed a humble boy living with his demon family in peace.