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Dante Bishop is an overarching supporting character in The Purge movie series. Little is known about his past, but as a poverty-stricken black man, he is among the demographic that the New Founding Fathers of America want to eliminate from the United States via the Annual Purge. He appears in The Purge, The Purge: Anarchy and The Purge: Election Year. He is portrayed by Edwin Hodge.

History[]

The Purge[]

In the first film of the series, Dante (credited as "Bloodied Stranger") is depicted as a homeless man struggling to survive when the 2022 Purge commences. That night, he is targeted by a group of wealthy young people who view him with the utmost contempt, considering him sub-human due to his impoverished status and only fit for people like them to kill in order to satisfy their violent impulses. Though horribly beaten and injured, Dante survives and flees into an upper-class neighbourhood, calling out for help. Fortunately, Charlie Sandin notices his cries and deactivates the security system to his family's house, allowing Dante to take refuge inside.

This act of compassion does not sit well with Charlie's father, James. While not a participant in the Purge, he openly supports it and admonishes his son for letting a potentially dangerous man into their family's home. Once inside the house, Dante goes into hiding, wanting nothing more than to survive the night. Unfortunately, the group of Purgers that had attacked him followed him all the way to the Sandins' house. The group's leader addresses James and politely requests that he give up Dante to him and his friends, warning him that they will break in and kill everyone in the house if he doesn't comply.

At first, the decision is simple for James as he is not willing to endanger his family for the sake of a stranger. He eventually finds Dante and confronts him, managing to incapacitate him and tie him up. However, his actions cause his wife and children to question their humanity, and ultimately James does the same. Realizing that it would be wrong to sacrifice Dante in this manner, James decides he will fight to protect his family and home. The time soon comes when the Purgers force their way into the house and James, armed with a shotgun, fends off the attackers. Sadly, James is killed by the lead Purger.

Soon after, the Sandins' neighbours enter the house and kill the leader. However, they didn't come to save the Sandins and simply wanted to Purge them themselves. Having witnessed James sacrifice himself for him, Dante helps Mary, Charlie and Zoey and kills one of the neighbours. He and Mary manage to disarm the others and hold them at gunpoint until morning comes and the siren sounds, marking the end of the Purge and making any further violence illegal. Once the ordeal is over, Dante leaves the Sandin house, wishing the family good luck.

The Purge: Anarchy[]

Dante makes only a brief appearance in the second film in which he is referred to as "Dwayne". Since the events of the first film, he has joined an anti-Purge movement led by Carmelo Johns and is working to undermine the NFFA and the Purge by targeting wealthy Purgers. Towards the end of the film, he and his group raid a mansion where a group of socialites are hosting their own Purge hunt. Dante and his crew kill all of the security personnel and rescue Leo Barnes, Eva Sanchez and her daughter Cali.

The Purge: Election Year[]

In the third film, Dante and his new partner, Angel, are leaders of a new successful anti-Purge rebel group based in Washington, D.C. who supports the presidential candidacy of Senator Charlie Roan, mainly due to her vow to end the Purge and help the needy after witnessing the death of her family during the 2022 Purge.

Dante first appears when Roan is accompanied by her head of security, former LAPD sergeant Leo Barnes and some of her supporters; shopkeepers Joe Dixon and Marcos and two EMTs, Laney Rucker and Dawn, seek shelter in an underground parking lot beneath a hospital which is converted to a medical center for Purge night and protected by his rebel team, after Roan's Purge night entourage evade a Neo-Nazi paramilitary team with the aid of a gang known as The Crips. He introduces Roan to the people in the shelter and converses with her.

After Roan is captured and delivered to a Purge mass in an NFFA-captured Catholic cathedral by Earl Danzinger to be executed by her rival, Minister Edwidge Owens and his superior, NFFA Chairman Caleb Warrens, Dante and his resistance group team up with Barnes and his group to rescue her. One of the shopkeepers, Marcos, assassinates Warrens and the anti-Purge group storms the church, instigating chaos that leaves the entire NFFA congregation dead, aside from Edwidge Owens, and Harmon James, who escaped the initial shootout. Dante captures Owens in the cathedral's crypt wherein the latter goads the former on to kill him. Dante contemplates killing him, much to the horror of Barnes and Roan, the latter protesting that Owens must be spared as she chooses to win fairly. He spares Owens on the condition that Roan wins the election.

After heading into the parking lot to secure a vehicle, Dante is unceremoniously shot and killed by Danzinger and his surviving troops.

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