“I am absolutely the White Rabbit”: Adi Shankar explains how guilt and rage shaped the aesthetics of Devil May Cry episode 6

Adi Shankar, the creator of the anime fantasy series Devil May Cry, has been working on the show for years after he acquired the rights to adapt the Capcom video game series of the same name. The show follows Dante, a demon hunter, on a mission to save the world against a demon named White Rabbit.

One thing that has caught viewers’ attention is how Devil May Cry episode 6, now streaming on Netflix, stands apart from other episodes. It's noticeably quieter and less violent. Speaking to TV Guide in an interview dated April 8, 2025, Shankar said that the aesthetics of episode 6 are influenced by rage and guilt.

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for Devil May Cry episode 6. Reader's discretion is advised.

Episode 6 reveals that the antagonist, White Rabbit, is not purely evil but rather a product of his circumstances, recontextualizing him as an anti-hero. In fact, he is not even a demon, but a human. When Dante actor Johnny Yong Bosch pointed out that Shankar is White Rabbit, Shankar agreed, saying:

"I am absolutely the White Rabbit."

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White Rabbit's backstory in Devil May Cry explored

A young White Rabbit with the demons in Devil May Cry episode 6 (Image via Netflix)

Episode 6, titled The First Circle, shows the backstories of the two main characters, Lady and White Rabbit. While the former grew up intending to eradicate demons from Earth, White Rabbit, played by Hoon Lee, wanted to save them because the demons raised him as their own after the humans failed him.

After being abused by his foster parents, a young and human Rabbit steps through a mysterious portal that leads him to Makai/Hell. The nether world, as portrayed in the series, isn't dark and brooding, and the demons accept the young boy as their own.

The air there grows progressively toxic, making it difficult for demons to breathe, even leading to the death of a young demon. This motivates the Rabbit to engineer a machine stabilizing the portal between Earth and Hell.

For some time, he managed to stay under the radar and bring the innocent demons to safety on Earth. However, one time, while the demons are on the run from a much bigger and evil demon, they end up face to face with a DARKCOM team led by Lady/Mary Arkham (portrayed by Scout Taylor-Compton), whose troubled childhood resulted in her holding a grudge against all demons.

Despite Rabbit's pleas, when the bigger demon almost exits the portal, the DARKCOM team opens fire, killing many innocent demons and injuring Rabbit. He starts wearing a stitched Rabbit mask to mimic demons before he embarks on a revenge arc.

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Adi Shankar on how his early years in India influenced the aesthetics of Devil May Cry episode 6

In an interview with TV Guide, Adi Shankar revealed that he was born in Kolkata, a city in eastern India. Growing up, he often saw children like himself living on the streets. He never got an answer when he questioned about this disparity in situations.

Years later, he moved to the U.S. to fulfill his dreams, but he kept feeling guilty, only to realize it was survivor's guilt. He says he was fortunate and didn't share the same fate as the impoverished children. That guilt, coupled with rage, influenced the aesthetics of the two realms in the show. He explained:

"The conventional choice would have been, the demon world, make it really scary and dark. And Makai, it's evil, ooh devils! And the human world is cute and sweet. And I was like, nope, to me, it's the other way around."

He further said:

"My memory of India was not that it was this dark place, it was this sweet place of sweet people. This happened to them. They were colonized, they were strip mined, and then bad people took over."

While Hell is designed with bright colors, Earth has a darker atmosphere with more sombre shades, like Grey, as seen in episode 6 of Devil May Cry.

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Devil May Cry is available to stream on Netflix.