Re: Sorry for the harsh comment Don't judge a book by it's cover. Dante's plenty deep if you can get beyond the mask of booze, cheap sex, and wild abandon.
You do realize that the "cover" you are talking about created from fans' assumptions? There are no solid canon information about Dante's sexual preferences (expect for a few... the "rotten luck with women" "going out with women who shoot him on head" "slow down babe" etc. lines and the library scene where he kinda tries to kiss Lady, implying that he is heterosexual *is repulsed at the VXD pairing fics XD*). The novel and the manga are quite messed up and murder the canon storyline in many places, so I won't believe them. And the anime? Argh. He is way too cold to be Dante, so I'm not even going there. He acts like a stuck-up loser who never got laid at all. XD
Besides,the most the novel and the manga does is to portray Dante as a bad-mouthed, hot-tempered, smooth-talking teenager with a troubled past. I fail to understand how people get the vibes of "sluttyness" from that. Maybe because of the flirtatious manner he talks to women? Lots of guys here do that, believe me, and very few of them are actually sluts. Guys that age (I mean as young as Dante is the novel/manga) tend to be just all talk. >_<
And your point of "protecting"... it's a good one, but I'd like to think instead of treating women like shit so they don't get hurt, Dante would rather keep distance from them altogether. I mean...even bringing home someone would be dangerous, considering the rate demons assault on his shop.
Don't assume too much. That is what I think as well. Just in a different way from yours.