On the 10th day of Dante-mas, Capcom gave to us…

Today on this 10th day of Dante-mas, Capcom gave to us: Heroes or Villains with premature greying.

I dunno what it is that causes antagonists and protagonists to go grey so early in their lives, I suppose in Dante’s case you can blame it on his demon heritage, and well Vergil (his brother) and Nero both have this silver hair. And of course we have all seen Sephiroth and his long flowing locks of silver hair.

So… Where does this come from it clearly is something of Japanese origin perhaps based on Japanese history along side those Giant enemy Crabs?

Let’s look at what could possible cause this:

1. What is the scientific reason for people to go grey?

The change in hair colour is caused by the gradual decrease of pigmentation that occurs when melanin ceases to be produced in the hair root and new hairs grow in without pigment. The stem cells at the base of hair follicles are responsible for producing melanocytes, the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells causes the onset of greying.

Ok, so we can assume that Dante et al are so bad-ass that they killed their own melanocytes?

2. What sort of medical conditions could cause this?

Albinism is a genetic abnormality in which no pigment is found in human hair, eyes or skin. This results in gray, blue, or red eyes. The skin is pale and the hair is white or pale blond.

This could be possible, Dante is frequently out at night rather than the day. Sephiroth just spent all his time in the Library in Nibelheim. Though he was able to summon a meteor that caused the sun to go supernova, and well, that’s not the best idea if you are suffering from Albinism (need a lot of sunblock).

Malnutrition is also known to cause hair to become lighter, thinner, and more brittle. Dark hair may thus turn reddish or blondish due to the decreased production of melanin. The condition is reversible with proper nutrition.

This is a good call, on the rare occasions that we have seen these guys eat it has always been Pizza or something greasy, I believe in DMC3 Dante wasn’t even allowed to finish his Pizza as he was attacked. Who has time to eat when you are saving humanity?

Werner syndrome is a very rare, autosomal recessive disorder; its most recognizable characteristic is premature aging. Werner's syndrome more closely resembles "accelerated aging" than any other "segmental progeria." The defect is on a gene that codes DNA helicase and it is located on the short arm of the 8th chromosome. As a result DNA replication is impaired. This condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern.

Doubtful, though they have grey hair they don’t look old, though you could argue that they are all immortal and age effects may not be as visible.

3. Other Reasons?

Smokers were found to be four times more likely to begin greying prematurely, compared to non-smokers in the study.

Dante doesn’t smoke, and Dante’s creator did not want him to be a smoker…

Bleaching.

Nah… These guys spend far too much time saving/destroying the world to care about their roots showing, plus their hair would be a yellowy/white if it was bleached.

In conclusion…

Umm, number one… They are so badass that they killed their own melanocytes.

Laters,

Richie