Characters in Devil May Cry
Encyclopedia
Devil May Cry is a series of video games set in the modern day, developed by Capcom
, created by Hideki Kamiya
, and produced by Shinji Mikami
. Originally intended to be a sequel in Capcom's Resident Evil series, Devil May Cry
has been cited as the foundation of a sub-genre of action games by the name of Extreme Action, where the premise of classic 2D games such as Castlevania
is transitioned into 3D. The series centers on main character Dante's
goal of avenging his mother's murder by exterminating demons. In the process, he encounters his long lost brother with whom he develops a dysfunctional relationship. As the series progresses it is revealed that the demon emperor Mundus is responsible for the loss of Dante's mother and the enslavement of his brother. The gameplay consists of heavy combat scenes in which the player must attempt to extend long chains of attacks while avoiding damage in order to exhibit "stylish" combat; this element along with time and amount of items collected and used are taken under consideration when grading the player's performance.
The success of the video game series has led to the creation of comic book
s, novelization
s, an anime
series, guides, collectibles, publications, and a variety of action figure
s. As of 2008
there are four games in the series. The original character designs for Devil May Cry were based on ideas from Hideki Kamiya
, a video game designer formerly employed by Capcom and subsequently by Clover Studio
. He directed Devil May Cry after working on Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2
. The creation of Nero and several of the characters in Devil May Cry 4 was done by Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who stated that designing Nero was one of the biggest challenges in his career. Each game in the series has introduced a different antagonist and back-up characters.
has stated that the titular character from the manga
series Cobra
by Buichi Terasawa
served as the basis for Dante. He also stated that Dante was designed with a cloak to make the character's intense action look more colorful. The reason behind Dante's red clothes is that in Japan red is a traditional color for a hero.
Devil May Cry 4s producer Hiroyuki Kobashi noted prior to the release of that game that they wanted to make Dante seem significantly more powerful than Nero. This was done in order to create an evident difference between the strength of a "veteran" when compared to a "rookie". Another reason for this portrayal is based on the series' continuity, which made the team trying to reflect the power that Dante would possess after the events of the first game and its prequel. Kobashi said that "When creating a sequel, you don't want to make a character weak again from the start for no good reason. Everyone wanted to see Dante be just as powerful as they remembered him." emphasizing that playing as him without his previous abilities would otherwise feel "very strange". The abilities for both main characters were elected and designed since the early stages of development.
Several of the series' weapons are made and personalized for the specific character that would wield these awesome weapons of destruction (AWD). Example of these is "Pandora", a firearm designed by Kobashi, who noted that he wanted to include a "transforming, multi-purpose AWD in Dante's arsenal. Something that could be used as an over the shoulder rocket launcher, or a crossbow, etc. In its final form, I wanted it to transform into something that would be even bigger than Dante himself.". The weapon's creation took inspiration from anime
including Macross
and Gundam
. When developing a game, Capcom's production team makes several alterations to the character's weapons until they complete designs that satisfy them, although the results are limited by the memory available for them.
Character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa has stated that "When working on this sort of game, the design doesn't come from just one person, it is necessary to take the history of the series and the feelings of the fans into consideration." Before commencing the designs for the characters in Devil May Cry 4, Yoshikawa consulted with several members of the staff that had worked in the series previously, in order to become familiar with previous elements. The characters were designed in order to emphasize their moves, which made the staff controlling their motions vital in the design. Some of the demonic forms of Devil May Cry 4's antagonists resemble angels. These were designed to be "cool" while providing a contrast when compared to other demons in the game. Yoshikawa noted that several of the boss characters presented some difficulty when creating them, but that Nero's design was one of the biggest challenges he had experienced in his career, based on the fact that the character would have to be accepted by the public and fit in the series' universe.
, and then by Matthew Kaminsky in Devil May Cry 2
. Reuben Langdon
was given the part in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
and has returned to the role three times—the English version of Devil May Cry: The Animated Series
(in which he was credited as "Justin Cause"), Devil May Cry 4
and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
. He was voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa
in the Japanese version of Devil May Cry: The Animated Series. Dante will be returning in DmC: Devil May Cry, looking different than he did in his original design.
, Nero perceives Dante as the enemy, but as the story progresses he realizes that it's the Order who is organizing their own agenda. Nero pivots his role as a Holy Knight to a renegade searching for answers, then into a vengeful demon slayer when the Order captures Kyrie. In the end, Nero and Dante join forces to defeat the Savior, saving Kyrie in the process. Nero and Dante part on good terms with Dante entrusting Nero with the sword known as Yamato that originally belonged to Dante's brother, Vergil.
Nero wields a sword named Red Queen, a revolver called Blue Rose and the "Devil Bringer" powers of his demonic-clawed right arm. By defeating various demons, Nero is able to increase the size of his Devil Bringer's reach. Nero later comes into possession of Yamato, Vergil's sword, which allows him a Devil Trigger that summons a Devil-Samurai avatar (similar to the possessed Vergil seen in the first game) to fight with him.
Nero has a connection with Dante's family which Devil May Cry 4 does not explain in depth. For one, Sanctus (the game's main antagonist) says that Nero has the blood of Sparda (Dante's father) in his veins. For another, Vergil's sword responds to Nero's call and even grants him his Devil Trigger form in the same fashion that Dante's sword does for Dante.
Nero is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch
in Devil May Cry 4.
alongside Dante, and as a playable character in the PSP game Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
. She also appears in the anime version and in the Devil May Cry Volume 2 novel.
Trish is a devil who bears a great facial resemblance to Dante's deceased mother Eva, and is a creation of Mundus. As a result of her demonic nature she possesses several supernatural abilities, like superhuman strength and lightning powers. In the first game, she hires Dante to help stop Mundus's plan to conquer the human world by opening a gate to the demon world on Mallet Island. Later in the game Dante learns that she is a servant of Mundus, and that her resemblance to Eva is part of a plan to lure Dante to the island so that Mundus' servants can kill him. However, she develops feelings for Dante and helps him defeat Mundus. In the game's epilogue, she and Dante are shown working together as partners out of the renamed "Devil May Cry" office. In the anime, she has since gone solo but sometimes reappears to work with Dante, who has given her an open invitation to come back at any time. Trish reappears in Devil May Cry 4 partnering with Dante once again. She disguises herself as Gloria, an executive of the Holy Knights. She reaches this high position shortly after joining the cult by presenting Sanctus with the Sparda sword, for which some members appear to be suspicious of her. She eventually reveals her identity when Sanctus attempts to complete a demonic structure known as the "Savior". Trish is voiced by Sarah Lafleur in Devil May Cry, Danielle Burgio in the fourth installment and by Atsuko Tanaka
(Japanese) and Luci Christian
(English) in the anime.
Trish appears in the crossover fighting games Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
as a playable character. She uses the Sparda sword and her lightning abilities to fight like in Devil May Cry 2.
, the 2007 anime series, as well as Devil May Cry 4. In DMC3, she appears in numerous cutscenes, fights Dante as a boss character, and teams up with Dante during the game's closing credits, though she is not controllable by the player. She also provides the game's framing narration, telling the story of how she met Dante and Vergil, and how Dante picked the name "Devil May Cry" for his shop, which was something she says while trying to comfort Dante over the loss of his brother.
Her original name, Mary, was given to her by her father Arkham, but she chose to renounce that name when he murdered her mother. Dante first calls her "lady" when she refuses to tell him her name, and she accepts it as her real name. Like her father, she has heterochromia
. While still a normal human, she is an exceptionally skilled firearms expert and extremely acrobatic in close quarters combat. Her most powerful weapon is the Kalina-Ann, a customized missile launcher similar to a MANPADS named after her mother. In the anime series she works as a solo devil hunter who sometimes calls on Dante for help, and sometimes for the money he owes her.
She is voiced by Kari Wahlgren
in Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4. Her motion capture was provided by Stephanie Cheeva in Devil May Cry 3. In Devil May Cry 4, Laura Napoli provided the motion capture for Lady, but did not provide her voice over. Lady was voiced by Fumiko Orikasa
in the anime and in the English version of the anime she is voiced by Melissa Davis
.
She lures Dante to her island so that Matier, her adoptive mother, may ask him to help them to defeat Arius, a man who has turned their land into a devils' paradise. Dante accepts, and he and Lucia start their quests separately. Later in the game, it is revealed that Lucia is actually "Chi", a devil bred by Arius and abandoned as a "defect". However, this does not change Lucia's objectives and she continues her mission. When she reaches Arius, Dante has already defeated him. Dante then takes a motorcycle and goes into the demon world to kill more devils. After Dante leaves, Arius, now completely turned into a monster, rises from the ruins of the buildings. Lucia confronts him and wins. Finally, Lucia is shown waiting in Dante's shop, flipping his coin continuously. Just then, Lucia hears a motorcycle outside the shop and goes out running. The character is voiced by Francoise Gralewski.
After his death, most of Sparda's power was concealed in the demon realm, sealed inside his sword- the Sparda/Force Edge, and was only accessible with an amulet he took with him into the human world. This amulet, which can be separated into two parts, was also one of the keys needed to unlock the portal. All its abilities are deactivated if the halves are separated.
Near the end of his life, Sparda settled with a human wife, Eva, and fathered twin sons, Dante
and Vergil. He gave his amulet to Eva as a gift which she in turn later separated and passed to her sons. Both Vergil and Dante received a powerful, enchanted sword from their father, Rebellion to Dante and Yamato to Vergil.
In Devil May Cry 4
a cult organization called the Order of the Sword cast Sparda as a god-figure who had ruled over their capital, Fortuna. While it's unknown as to how he died, Dante understands that among the people there is a lot of confusion surrounding Sparda and who he truly was. However what is known is that Sparda was a righteous, honorable, loving, courageous and mighty devil who loved his wife and sons, as well as all of humanity.
. He wishes to find the legendary Arcana, artifacts which would allow him to raise the demon Argosax from the demon realm and use that power to control the world. While he is completely human at the outset of the game, he does have access to a variety of powerful magic which allows him to fight against capable demon hunters such as Dante and he is also capable of creating his own demons in a form of his choosing. Near the end, in Lucia's scenario, Arius is shown to have survived his battle with Dante. Infused with the power of Argosax (which is implied to have possessed him), he takes Lucias first as a demonic version of himself, but as he begins to lose he mutates further into a giant creature and the fight comes to a close in a rift made in the destroyed streets.
. In most of Arkham's scenes he is holding a book, even in combat.
He is one of the main antagonists in Devil May Cry 3. He first appears in a cutscene in the game's first mission where he walks into Dante
's office and offers him an invitation from his twin brother Vergil.
Arkham is a master manipulator, pitting Dante, Vergil and Lady against each other by preying on their personalities and desires. With Vergil he plays the role of a sycophant, pretending to help while plotting against him. He taunts and further enrages Lady, who is driven by her need to avenge her mother and stop him, but he later convinces her that his evil acts were Vergil's fault. To Dante he appears in the form of an apparent resident of the tower named Jester, mocking the hero as he alternately advises and challenges him.
His plans are successful, and he is able to open the gate to the demon world. He is the first to retrieve the Force Edge and combine its power with the restored halves of Eva's amulet, thereby acquiring a large portion of Sparda's power and temporarily taking on the demon's original form. However the power overwhelms him and he further transforms into a shapeless creature when he battles Dante. He is defeated when the brothers team up and they cast him out of the demon world, where Lady ultimately kills him.
In the Special Edition release of the game he appears (as Jester) as an additional boss character for the player to fight. He is voiced and motion capture
d (as both Arkham and Jester) by Adam Clark, and credited as "Adam D Clerk" in the game's credits.
Arkham's name was originally intended to be Hyne but Reuben Langdon (Dante) thought it would not work in English and convinced Capcom to change it. Jester's name was intended to be Joker.
battle for Dante's scenario. Arius's actions opened a doorway which allowed Argosax's entrance. To stop this, Dante went through to the demon world instead and defeated the devil. Argosax/The Despair Embodied do not have any spoken lines in the game. Argosax and Despair are both two different bosses, but are actually the same entity. The Despair Embodied is Argosax's true manifestation, while the Argosax blob form is more of a housing for the devil.
Mundus serves as the main antagonist during the first Devil May Cry, and created Trish so she could lure Dante to Mallet Island. There, Mundus and his servants try to kill Dante, but Dante is the ultimate victor, winning Trish's loyalty and defeating Mundus, who promised to eventually return. To date, Mundus is the only demon Dante was not capable of killing, even with the help of Trish. He has a cameo appearance at the end of the third game which is set before the first game, where he appears as three red glowing orbs in the sky with electricity around them, this is the form Mundus displayed when he was first seen in Devil May Cry.,
Mundus statue form is seen briefly in Devil May Cry 2, he used this form throughout the first game until Dante confronts him, he then breaks out of the "shell" and reveals himself to have an angelic appearance with a scar across his chest possibly caused by Sparda or even Vergil, who encountered him at the end of Devil May Cry 3. After being defeated, he will once again attack Dante in the basement of the castle and reveal another form, that of a three eyed-magma demon, with his angelic body being just another shell or armour.
In Dante's storyline in the PlayStation 2 version of Viewtiful Joe
, he possesses Captain Blue to take revenge on Dante and Trish.
The character is voiced by Tony Daniels.
of Sparda and spiritual leader of the Order of the Sword, Sanctus is seemingly assassinated by Dante at the beginning of the game. Sanctus is regarded as one of the best leaders in the Order's history and has previously served as general of the Holy Knights. In reality, he is the one behind the events of Devil May Cry 4 and may have arranged Dante to come to Fortuna. After his 'death' he is resurrected after taking part in the "ascension ceremony", a process in which a human being receives the essence of a demon. Following this he continues his role as the leader of the Order of the Sword. He eventually asks Credo to arrest Nero after Agnus informs Sanctus that he possesses demonic power. After Credo is unable to perform this task Agnus kidnaps Kyrie. Nero tries to rescue her after defeating Agnus but Sanctus intervenes and departs with her in custody. Subsequently Sanctus uses Kyrie as building material for the "Savior", a demonic structure that had been collecting spiritual and demonic energy for centuries. When Nero confronts him Sanctus defeats him and reveals he originally intended to use Dante as the Savior's core. Using the Savior's strength, Nero is absorbed into the structure, with Sanctus taking possession of Yamato, which he used to open the "hell's gate". When several demons attack residents of Fortuna he controls the Savior and several of the Order's "Angels" and orders them to exterminate the demons while announcing the "arrival of the Savior". Sanctus then merges with the structure and is not seen until, through Dante's efforts, Nero is released and confronts a Sparda-wielding Sanctus in battle, but he is defeated by Nero and is absorbed into the Savior's core, where the gigantic structure of the Savior becomes Sanctus's new body until Nero finally destroys him using his Devil Bringer. He is voiced by Liam O'Brien
.
s; unlike Dante, Vergil embraces his devil side. He is a main character and boss in Devil May Cry 3 as well as a playable character in the game's Special Edition. After he is betrayed by Arkham at the end of the game's second act (the end of mission 13), he temporarily teams up with Dante near the end, before reverting to his villain role. Throughout the game, Vergil seeks to undo the seal of Sparda hidden within the Demonic Domain, and claim the entirety of their father's power for his own, regardless of the effects this will have on the human world. To do so he needed Dante's half of their mother's amulet, so he lured his brother out with the intent of taking it by force. His dialogue at the end of mission 7 indicates that he seeks this power to compensate for being unable to save their mother.
Vergil battles Dante three times in the Devil May Cry 3 storyline. Their first battle is on the highest level of Temen-Ni-Gru, where Dante is soundly defeated by Vergil, who then takes Dante's amulet. Their second battle is at the bottom of the tower, where the twins battle to a draw before their battle is interrupted. Their final battle is near the entrance to the demon realm, where Vergil is finally defeated. While Dante escapes back to the human world, Vergil chooses to stay behind.
Should the player be able to defeat at least 100 demons before the credits finish, the player is shown a cutscene with Vergil rising to his feet in a lake of blood, and looking into the sky to see three large glowing orbs in the sky – Mundus as he first appeared in Devil May Cry. Vergil decides that if his father was able to defeat Mundus he can too, and then charges at the orbs with his sword ready. Vergil survives his encounter with Mundus, but becomes enslaved and apparently brainwashed. In the first game, he appears as a demonic dark knight, called Nelo Angelo. Dante encounters Nelo Angelo three times in Devil May Cry, and each time Nelo Angelo sees Dante's half of the amulet, he flees the battle. In their final encounter, Nelo Angelo uncovers his face to reveal that he is Vergil. In the end Nelo Angelo appears to explode, leaving his half of the amulet behind. Vergil is voiced by Daniel Southworth in Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, while Nelo Angelo is voiced by David Kelley in Devil May Cry.
The Order of the Sword used fragments of Nelo Angelo in order to create the Alto and Bianco Angelos, artificial demons consisting of a suit of armor powered by a human or demon's soul.
Vergil's sword, the Yamato, is used by Nero in Devil May Cry 4
, it being restored when Nero's inner demon awakens. Dante tries to reclaim the Yamato from Nero, stating that the sword was his brother's, originally used to seal the gate between the realms and that it needed to remain in the family. In the end, Dante entrusts Nero to keep the Yamato with confidence.
Vergil appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
.
He is voiced by T.J Storm.
and Vergil. She was killed in a demon attack, but sometime before that she gave each of the boys half of Sparda's amulet as a birthday gift. Eva herself only appears as a photo on Dante's desk and as a voice in a flashback in the first Devil May Cry game. Trish is created to look exactly like Eva. The character (Eva) is voiced by Sarah Lafleur
.
. The name Enzo is also used in the game Bayonetta, who's gameplay and story line is closely related to Devil May Cry.
The character is voiced by Stephanie Sheh
and motion captured by Laura Napoli.
described the character as a "maverick head-hunter" as well as a "believable" character, his actions and abilities were regarded as being able to make the player reach the conclusion that they are "awesome." Dante's confident and fearless attitude have gained him widespread popularity. He was ranked as the seventh of Game Crush's "Top 10: Most Badass Video Game Characters" list, and third among the "Top ten coolest video game characters" list of Screwattack. Outside of the main character the demonic enemies, were reviewed as "ferocious" while the sub-bosses were "incredibly tough" and the bosses (most notably Dante's villainous brother Vergil), were "very tough", providing a significant amount of the game's challenges. Eurogamer
reviewed the design of the demons as "some of the most bizarre looking creatures you will find this side of American McGee's Alice." while the proportion of the bosses were perceived as "vast" and their battles were described as requiring different strategies, making an exclusion when pointing that the fights with "Nightmare" prove repetitive. When reviewing Devil May Cry 2 GameSpot
felt that the characters lacked personality. This was based on the removal of distinctive traits from Dante and that Lucia's role in the plot was significantly short, not allowing time to develop the character. The publication labeled the game's enemies as "mindless", noting that most of them including the "bosses" could be defeated using the default attacks.
The missions where the player controls Vergil in Devil May Cry 3 were reviewed as adding "an all-new and unique play style", and being able to play his story arc as " such a blast that Capcom could probably have released his modes separately for $19.99 and gotten away with it." After the prequel's release there were talks about including Lady as the main character of a spin-off game, which was perceived as a "interesting idea" but the project did not progress and was subsequently discarded. The designs used for characters in Devil May Cry 4 were described as resembling a "legion of seraphim the likes of which gamers have never seen before, and it puts an interesting spin on what all of our preconceptions of 'good' are in a video game", the publication also said that they shared visual elements with military personnel employed by real religions, by noting that "Considering the visual nature of the heavily-armored, winged, angelic warriors scattered around the various missions, it'd be easy to confuse these characters with crusaders of Christian origin."
, a special edition of the PS3 console and several soundtracks. Capcom has made other merchandise available in their official shopping website e-Capcom. These include concept art for the Animated Series, several t-shirt designs, rings, collars and hand bags. The popularity of the Devil May Cry series lead to a line of Devil May Cry action figures produced by Toycom. Japanese company Kaiyodo
produced a similar line for Devil May Cry 2 and a Devil May Cry 3 Dante action figure. Kotobukiya published statues of based on the franchise's characters after the release of the anime, these included Vergil and Dante and were followed by a Devil May Cry 4 series. Micellaneous merchandise includes posters and frame stamps conmemorating the series' fifth anniversary.
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
, created by Hideki Kamiya
Hideki Kamiya
is a video game designer formerly employed by Capcom and Clover Studio. He is currently working with former Clover Studio members at Platinum Games.- Career :...
, and produced by Shinji Mikami
Shinji Mikami
is a Japanese video game designer best known for creating the seminal survival horror series Resident Evil. He also contributed to some of Capcom's most popular post-32-bit era franchises, including Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry, and Ace Attorney, where he served as an executive producer...
. Originally intended to be a sequel in Capcom's Resident Evil series, Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
is an action game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. Although it is the first game in the series of the same name, the events in Devil May Cry are second in the series storyline's chronological order, taking place after Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and...
has been cited as the foundation of a sub-genre of action games by the name of Extreme Action, where the premise of classic 2D games such as Castlevania
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
is transitioned into 3D. The series centers on main character Dante's
Dante (Devil May Cry)
is the primary fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series published by Capcom. The character and Devil May Cry are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over nine million copies worldwide as of 2008 and currently spans four video games...
goal of avenging his mother's murder by exterminating demons. In the process, he encounters his long lost brother with whom he develops a dysfunctional relationship. As the series progresses it is revealed that the demon emperor Mundus is responsible for the loss of Dante's mother and the enslavement of his brother. The gameplay consists of heavy combat scenes in which the player must attempt to extend long chains of attacks while avoiding damage in order to exhibit "stylish" combat; this element along with time and amount of items collected and used are taken under consideration when grading the player's performance.
The success of the video game series has led to the creation of comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
s, an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series, guides, collectibles, publications, and a variety of action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s. As of 2008
2008 in video gaming
Notable events of 2008 in video gaming. See also history of video games. The release dates listed in this article are the games' original release dates.-Events:...
there are four games in the series. The original character designs for Devil May Cry were based on ideas from Hideki Kamiya
Hideki Kamiya
is a video game designer formerly employed by Capcom and Clover Studio. He is currently working with former Clover Studio members at Platinum Games.- Career :...
, a video game designer formerly employed by Capcom and subsequently by Clover Studio
Clover Studio
Clover Studio was an independent Japanese development studio, funded by Capcom Japan. Clover Studio developed the PlayStation 2 port of Viewtiful Joe, both versions of Viewtiful Joe 2 for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation 2 titles Ōkami and God Hand...
. He directed Devil May Cry after working on Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2, known as in Japan, is a survival horror video game originally released for the PlayStation in 1998. Developed by Capcom as the second installment in the Resident Evil series, its story takes place two months after the events of the first game, Resident Evil...
. The creation of Nero and several of the characters in Devil May Cry 4 was done by Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who stated that designing Nero was one of the biggest challenges in his career. Each game in the series has introduced a different antagonist and back-up characters.
Character conception and influence
Series creator Hideki KamiyaHideki Kamiya
is a video game designer formerly employed by Capcom and Clover Studio. He is currently working with former Clover Studio members at Platinum Games.- Career :...
has stated that the titular character from the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series Cobra
Space Adventure Cobra
is a space-opera manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa of the Black Sheep studio. The serialized form of Cobra originally appeared the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump during 1978–1984...
by Buichi Terasawa
Buichi Terasawa
is a Japanese manga artist. His most famous works include Goku Midnight Eye and Cobra.In the early days of his career when he was still unknown, he contributed materials of comics to a magazine that won him a prize, an event that led him into the world of comics.In 1976, he came to Tokyo and began...
served as the basis for Dante. He also stated that Dante was designed with a cloak to make the character's intense action look more colorful. The reason behind Dante's red clothes is that in Japan red is a traditional color for a hero.
Several of the series' weapons are made and personalized for the specific character that would wield these awesome weapons of destruction (AWD). Example of these is "Pandora", a firearm designed by Kobashi, who noted that he wanted to include a "transforming, multi-purpose AWD in Dante's arsenal. Something that could be used as an over the shoulder rocket launcher, or a crossbow, etc. In its final form, I wanted it to transform into something that would be even bigger than Dante himself.". The weapon's creation took inspiration from anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
including Macross
Macross
is a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
and Gundam
Gundam
The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....
. When developing a game, Capcom's production team makes several alterations to the character's weapons until they complete designs that satisfy them, although the results are limited by the memory available for them.
Character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa has stated that "When working on this sort of game, the design doesn't come from just one person, it is necessary to take the history of the series and the feelings of the fans into consideration." Before commencing the designs for the characters in Devil May Cry 4, Yoshikawa consulted with several members of the staff that had worked in the series previously, in order to become familiar with previous elements. The characters were designed in order to emphasize their moves, which made the staff controlling their motions vital in the design. Some of the demonic forms of Devil May Cry 4's antagonists resemble angels. These were designed to be "cool" while providing a contrast when compared to other demons in the game. Yoshikawa noted that several of the boss characters presented some difficulty when creating them, but that Nero's design was one of the biggest challenges he had experienced in his career, based on the fact that the character would have to be accepted by the public and fit in the series' universe.
Dante
Dante is the primary protagonist of the series. He is a mercenary specializing in paranormal cases, and was the primary playable character in the first three Devil May Cry games. The character was first voiced by Drew Coombs in Devil May CryDevil May Cry
is an action game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. Although it is the first game in the series of the same name, the events in Devil May Cry are second in the series storyline's chronological order, taking place after Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and...
, and then by Matthew Kaminsky in Devil May Cry 2
Devil May Cry 2
is an action game developed and published by Capcom in 2003 exclusively for the PlayStation 2. The game serves as a sequel to Devil May Cry and is, chronologically the fourth and final game in the original Devil May Cry series with Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Devil May Cry, and Devil May...
. Reuben Langdon
Reuben Langdon
Reuben Christopher Langdon is an American stunt actor, motion capture actor, actor, martial artist and voice actor for various martial arts films, television shows, and video games. He is a co-founder, producer and action director for Just Cause Productions, a motion capture company for various...
was given the part in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, released in Japan as simply , is an action game that was developed and published by Capcom, released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2...
and has returned to the role three times—the English version of Devil May Cry: The Animated Series
Devil May Cry: The Animated Series
is an anime series based on the video game series by Capcom. It debuted on the WOWOW TV network in Japan on June 14, 2007 and ran 12 episodes.The show was produced by the anime studio Madhouse and was directed by Shin Itagaki...
(in which he was credited as "Justin Cause"), Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4 is an action game that was published and developed by Capcom in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows platforms. The game is the fourth installment to the Devil May Cry series....
and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
. He was voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa
Toshiyuki Morikawa
is a prolific Japanese male voice actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, was affiliated with Arts Vision. Lately, however, he has become the head of that a voice actor company he founded in Apr 2011. His name is also sometimes mistranslated as Tomoyuki...
in the Japanese version of Devil May Cry: The Animated Series. Dante will be returning in DmC: Devil May Cry, looking different than he did in his original design.
Nero
Nero is a lead character of Devil May Cry 4, marking his first appearance in the franchise and sharing a main role with series protagonist, Dante. An orphan that was adopted by the Order, he has grown up to be a Holy Knight in the Sparda-worshiping religion known as the Order of the Sword. He tends to not get along well with others and prefers to work alone, so he is usually given the Order's "special assignments." Throughout Devil May Cry 4Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4 is an action game that was published and developed by Capcom in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows platforms. The game is the fourth installment to the Devil May Cry series....
, Nero perceives Dante as the enemy, but as the story progresses he realizes that it's the Order who is organizing their own agenda. Nero pivots his role as a Holy Knight to a renegade searching for answers, then into a vengeful demon slayer when the Order captures Kyrie. In the end, Nero and Dante join forces to defeat the Savior, saving Kyrie in the process. Nero and Dante part on good terms with Dante entrusting Nero with the sword known as Yamato that originally belonged to Dante's brother, Vergil.
Nero wields a sword named Red Queen, a revolver called Blue Rose and the "Devil Bringer" powers of his demonic-clawed right arm. By defeating various demons, Nero is able to increase the size of his Devil Bringer's reach. Nero later comes into possession of Yamato, Vergil's sword, which allows him a Devil Trigger that summons a Devil-Samurai avatar (similar to the possessed Vergil seen in the first game) to fight with him.
Nero has a connection with Dante's family which Devil May Cry 4 does not explain in depth. For one, Sanctus (the game's main antagonist) says that Nero has the blood of Sparda (Dante's father) in his veins. For another, Vergil's sword responds to Nero's call and even grants him his Devil Trigger form in the same fashion that Dante's sword does for Dante.
Nero is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch
Johnny Yong Bosch
Johnny Yong Bosch is an American actor, voice actor, martial artist, and musician.He may be best known for portraying Adam Park in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and being the English voice of Ichigo Kurosaki in the hit anime series Bleach, Vash the Stampede in Trigun and Lelouch Lamperouge in Code...
in Devil May Cry 4.
Trish
Trish is the Devil May Cry series main female role, initially introduced in Devil May Cry. She also appears in Devil May Cry 2 as a playable character (where her appearance is a bonus feature and not a part of the game's plot) as well as in the PS2 version of Viewtiful JoeViewtiful Joe
is a video game developed by Capcom's Production Studio 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. Viewtiful Joe was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the...
alongside Dante, and as a playable character in the PSP game Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble, known in Japan as , is a video game available for the Nintendo GameCube and the PlayStation Portable. It is a slightly mission-based fighting/beat 'em up somewhat similar in style to Super Smash Bros...
. She also appears in the anime version and in the Devil May Cry Volume 2 novel.
Trish is a devil who bears a great facial resemblance to Dante's deceased mother Eva, and is a creation of Mundus. As a result of her demonic nature she possesses several supernatural abilities, like superhuman strength and lightning powers. In the first game, she hires Dante to help stop Mundus's plan to conquer the human world by opening a gate to the demon world on Mallet Island. Later in the game Dante learns that she is a servant of Mundus, and that her resemblance to Eva is part of a plan to lure Dante to the island so that Mundus' servants can kill him. However, she develops feelings for Dante and helps him defeat Mundus. In the game's epilogue, she and Dante are shown working together as partners out of the renamed "Devil May Cry" office. In the anime, she has since gone solo but sometimes reappears to work with Dante, who has given her an open invitation to come back at any time. Trish reappears in Devil May Cry 4 partnering with Dante once again. She disguises herself as Gloria, an executive of the Holy Knights. She reaches this high position shortly after joining the cult by presenting Sanctus with the Sparda sword, for which some members appear to be suspicious of her. She eventually reveals her identity when Sanctus attempts to complete a demonic structure known as the "Savior". Trish is voiced by Sarah Lafleur in Devil May Cry, Danielle Burgio in the fourth installment and by Atsuko Tanaka
Atsuko Tanaka
is a Japanese voice actress who works for Ezaki Productions. Her deep and sultry voice is often used to portray villainesses and mature female characters.-TV anime:*Angel Links *Black Cat *Berserk *Cowboy Bebop...
(Japanese) and Luci Christian
Luci Christian
Louisa Michelle Christian is an American voice actress and ADR Script Writer who is affiliated with Funimation Entertainment, ADV Films, Seraphim Digital, and OkraTron 5000...
(English) in the anime.
Trish appears in the crossover fighting games Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It is an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After the events of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disrupted the development schedule for downloadable content for the original game, the additional content was made into a...
as a playable character. She uses the Sparda sword and her lightning abilities to fight like in Devil May Cry 2.
Lady
Lady first appears in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, and later in that game's spin-off mangaDevil May Cry 3 (manga)
is a manga series based on the best selling video game Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening was released in Japan and later an English translation was released in 2005. The manga is divided into three parts, Code 1: Dante, Code 2: Vergil, and the to-be released Code 3: Lady...
, the 2007 anime series, as well as Devil May Cry 4. In DMC3, she appears in numerous cutscenes, fights Dante as a boss character, and teams up with Dante during the game's closing credits, though she is not controllable by the player. She also provides the game's framing narration, telling the story of how she met Dante and Vergil, and how Dante picked the name "Devil May Cry" for his shop, which was something she says while trying to comfort Dante over the loss of his brother.
Her original name, Mary, was given to her by her father Arkham, but she chose to renounce that name when he murdered her mother. Dante first calls her "lady" when she refuses to tell him her name, and she accepts it as her real name. Like her father, she has heterochromia
Heterochromia
In anatomy, heterochromia refers to a difference in coloration, usually of the iris but also of hair or skin. Heterochromia is a result of the relative excess or lack of melanin...
. While still a normal human, she is an exceptionally skilled firearms expert and extremely acrobatic in close quarters combat. Her most powerful weapon is the Kalina-Ann, a customized missile launcher similar to a MANPADS named after her mother. In the anime series she works as a solo devil hunter who sometimes calls on Dante for help, and sometimes for the money he owes her.
She is voiced by Kari Wahlgren
Kari Wahlgren
Kari K. Wahlgren is an American voice actress who has provided English language voices for dozens of anime titles and video games. Her debut role was as one of the main characters of FLCL, Haruko Haruhara. She had a live-action role as Tinker Bell in the 2003 Damion Dietz film Neverland...
in Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4. Her motion capture was provided by Stephanie Cheeva in Devil May Cry 3. In Devil May Cry 4, Laura Napoli provided the motion capture for Lady, but did not provide her voice over. Lady was voiced by Fumiko Orikasa
Fumiko Orikasa
is a Japanese voice actress and singer who works for Atomic Monkey. Her record label is Geneon Entertainment. Shopping is one of her hobbies. She is a skilled dancer, and is referred to as "Oririn" by fellow voice actors and fans. She also performed a fair number of anime insert and character image...
in the anime and in the English version of the anime she is voiced by Melissa Davis
Melissa Davis
Melissa Davis Magill is an American theater actress and voice actress for ADV Films and Seraphim Digital. She is known for playing Kate Ashley in Red Garden and Mai Kawasumi in Kanon.-Voice roles:*Angel Beats! - Shiina...
.
Lucia
Lucia, alongside Dante, is one of the two protagonists of Devil May Cry 2. Lucia is a quick, beautiful, sexy and agile fighter; she uses two ornately crafted curved daggers. Like Dante, she can also Devil Trigger, transforming into a "Harpy", a light devil similar to a bird. Lucia is a member of Vie de Marli, a clan of guardians that have the blood of devils.She lures Dante to her island so that Matier, her adoptive mother, may ask him to help them to defeat Arius, a man who has turned their land into a devils' paradise. Dante accepts, and he and Lucia start their quests separately. Later in the game, it is revealed that Lucia is actually "Chi", a devil bred by Arius and abandoned as a "defect". However, this does not change Lucia's objectives and she continues her mission. When she reaches Arius, Dante has already defeated him. Dante then takes a motorcycle and goes into the demon world to kill more devils. After Dante leaves, Arius, now completely turned into a monster, rises from the ruins of the buildings. Lucia confronts him and wins. Finally, Lucia is shown waiting in Dante's shop, flipping his coin continuously. Just then, Lucia hears a motorcycle outside the shop and goes out running. The character is voiced by Francoise Gralewski.
Sparda
In the Devil May Cry universe, Sparda is the devil that rebelled against his own kind for the sake of the human world two thousand years prior to the events of Devil May Cry. He defeated countless devils/demons and their Emperor, Mundus, before sealing the gateway to the demon world, sacrificing both his own blood and that of a mortal priestess. These actions made him a legend in the human world, gaining him the moniker of The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda.After his death, most of Sparda's power was concealed in the demon realm, sealed inside his sword- the Sparda/Force Edge, and was only accessible with an amulet he took with him into the human world. This amulet, which can be separated into two parts, was also one of the keys needed to unlock the portal. All its abilities are deactivated if the halves are separated.
Near the end of his life, Sparda settled with a human wife, Eva, and fathered twin sons, Dante
Dante (Devil May Cry)
is the primary fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series published by Capcom. The character and Devil May Cry are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over nine million copies worldwide as of 2008 and currently spans four video games...
and Vergil. He gave his amulet to Eva as a gift which she in turn later separated and passed to her sons. Both Vergil and Dante received a powerful, enchanted sword from their father, Rebellion to Dante and Yamato to Vergil.
In Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4 is an action game that was published and developed by Capcom in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows platforms. The game is the fourth installment to the Devil May Cry series....
a cult organization called the Order of the Sword cast Sparda as a god-figure who had ruled over their capital, Fortuna. While it's unknown as to how he died, Dante understands that among the people there is a lot of confusion surrounding Sparda and who he truly was. However what is known is that Sparda was a righteous, honorable, loving, courageous and mighty devil who loved his wife and sons, as well as all of humanity.
Arius l
Arius is the primary antagonist in Devil May Cry 2. He is an extremely wealthy businessman that owns an international company called UroborosOuroboros
The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; οὐρά meaning "tail" and βόρος meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail"....
. He wishes to find the legendary Arcana, artifacts which would allow him to raise the demon Argosax from the demon realm and use that power to control the world. While he is completely human at the outset of the game, he does have access to a variety of powerful magic which allows him to fight against capable demon hunters such as Dante and he is also capable of creating his own demons in a form of his choosing. Near the end, in Lucia's scenario, Arius is shown to have survived his battle with Dante. Infused with the power of Argosax (which is implied to have possessed him), he takes Lucias first as a demonic version of himself, but as he begins to lose he mutates further into a giant creature and the fight comes to a close in a rift made in the destroyed streets.
Arkham
Arkham is a scholar with supernatural abilities and knowledge about the demon world's folklore. He is taller than Dante and Vergil, bald to the extent of having no eyebrows, and has a scar covering the left side of his face, which is seen to pulsate in a few cutscenes. It is the result of a botched ritual to turn himself into a devil, in which he sacrificed his wife. Like his daughter Lady, he has HeterochromiaHeterochromia
In anatomy, heterochromia refers to a difference in coloration, usually of the iris but also of hair or skin. Heterochromia is a result of the relative excess or lack of melanin...
. In most of Arkham's scenes he is holding a book, even in combat.
He is one of the main antagonists in Devil May Cry 3. He first appears in a cutscene in the game's first mission where he walks into Dante
Dante (Devil May Cry)
is the primary fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series published by Capcom. The character and Devil May Cry are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over nine million copies worldwide as of 2008 and currently spans four video games...
's office and offers him an invitation from his twin brother Vergil.
Arkham is a master manipulator, pitting Dante, Vergil and Lady against each other by preying on their personalities and desires. With Vergil he plays the role of a sycophant, pretending to help while plotting against him. He taunts and further enrages Lady, who is driven by her need to avenge her mother and stop him, but he later convinces her that his evil acts were Vergil's fault. To Dante he appears in the form of an apparent resident of the tower named Jester, mocking the hero as he alternately advises and challenges him.
His plans are successful, and he is able to open the gate to the demon world. He is the first to retrieve the Force Edge and combine its power with the restored halves of Eva's amulet, thereby acquiring a large portion of Sparda's power and temporarily taking on the demon's original form. However the power overwhelms him and he further transforms into a shapeless creature when he battles Dante. He is defeated when the brothers team up and they cast him out of the demon world, where Lady ultimately kills him.
In the Special Edition release of the game he appears (as Jester) as an additional boss character for the player to fight. He is voiced and motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
d (as both Arkham and Jester) by Adam Clark, and credited as "Adam D Clerk" in the game's credits.
Arkham's name was originally intended to be Hyne but Reuben Langdon (Dante) thought it would not work in English and convinced Capcom to change it. Jester's name was intended to be Joker.
Argosax the Chaos
A very powerful devil lord who once fought against Sparda. Argosax was once a king of the demon world that was sealed by Sparda. His host shell consists of various bosses from the first and second game. Inside of the shell is his true form "The Despair encarnada ", a powerful and diabolical sex-changing, fiery, horned angel. Despair changes his physical appearance slightly throughout the fight; sometimes he has a masculine frame (his true form) and attacks with a sword, other times it appears more feminine in shape and attacks with whip lashes. He serves as the final bossBoss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
battle for Dante's scenario. Arius's actions opened a doorway which allowed Argosax's entrance. To stop this, Dante went through to the demon world instead and defeated the devil. Argosax/The Despair Embodied do not have any spoken lines in the game. Argosax and Despair are both two different bosses, but are actually the same entity. The Despair Embodied is Argosax's true manifestation, while the Argosax blob form is more of a housing for the devil.
Mundus
Mundus is king of the demon world with the appearance of a seraph, who was defeated by Sparda two thousand years before the games. He stands dozens of feet tall, with white feathered wings and a third eye on his forehead. Mundus cares little for those that serve him loyally, even going so far as to kill one of his generals for failing to defeat Dante. Mundus is also considered the sworn-arch nemesis of Dante.Mundus serves as the main antagonist during the first Devil May Cry, and created Trish so she could lure Dante to Mallet Island. There, Mundus and his servants try to kill Dante, but Dante is the ultimate victor, winning Trish's loyalty and defeating Mundus, who promised to eventually return. To date, Mundus is the only demon Dante was not capable of killing, even with the help of Trish. He has a cameo appearance at the end of the third game which is set before the first game, where he appears as three red glowing orbs in the sky with electricity around them, this is the form Mundus displayed when he was first seen in Devil May Cry.,
Mundus statue form is seen briefly in Devil May Cry 2, he used this form throughout the first game until Dante confronts him, he then breaks out of the "shell" and reveals himself to have an angelic appearance with a scar across his chest possibly caused by Sparda or even Vergil, who encountered him at the end of Devil May Cry 3. After being defeated, he will once again attack Dante in the basement of the castle and reveal another form, that of a three eyed-magma demon, with his angelic body being just another shell or armour.
In Dante's storyline in the PlayStation 2 version of Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe
is a video game developed by Capcom's Production Studio 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. Viewtiful Joe was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the...
, he possesses Captain Blue to take revenge on Dante and Trish.
The character is voiced by Tony Daniels.
Sanctus
The Proclaimed VicarVicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Sparda and spiritual leader of the Order of the Sword, Sanctus is seemingly assassinated by Dante at the beginning of the game. Sanctus is regarded as one of the best leaders in the Order's history and has previously served as general of the Holy Knights. In reality, he is the one behind the events of Devil May Cry 4 and may have arranged Dante to come to Fortuna. After his 'death' he is resurrected after taking part in the "ascension ceremony", a process in which a human being receives the essence of a demon. Following this he continues his role as the leader of the Order of the Sword. He eventually asks Credo to arrest Nero after Agnus informs Sanctus that he possesses demonic power. After Credo is unable to perform this task Agnus kidnaps Kyrie. Nero tries to rescue her after defeating Agnus but Sanctus intervenes and departs with her in custody. Subsequently Sanctus uses Kyrie as building material for the "Savior", a demonic structure that had been collecting spiritual and demonic energy for centuries. When Nero confronts him Sanctus defeats him and reveals he originally intended to use Dante as the Savior's core. Using the Savior's strength, Nero is absorbed into the structure, with Sanctus taking possession of Yamato, which he used to open the "hell's gate". When several demons attack residents of Fortuna he controls the Savior and several of the Order's "Angels" and orders them to exterminate the demons while announcing the "arrival of the Savior". Sanctus then merges with the structure and is not seen until, through Dante's efforts, Nero is released and confronts a Sparda-wielding Sanctus in battle, but he is defeated by Nero and is absorbed into the Savior's core, where the gigantic structure of the Savior becomes Sanctus's new body until Nero finally destroys him using his Devil Bringer. He is voiced by Liam O'Brien
Liam O'Brien
Liam Christopher O'Brien is an American voice actor and voice director perhaps best known for his roles as Gaara of the Sand in Naruto, Captain Jushiro Ukitake in Bleach, War in the video game Darksiders, 'Vincent Law' in Ergo Proxy and 'Illidan Stormrage' in the 'Warcraft' game series...
.
Vergil
Vergil is Dante's elder identical twin, though the two are near-polar oppositePolar Opposite
-Personnel:* Shimon Moore – lead vocals, lead guitar* Emma Anzai – bass, backing vocals* Mark Goodwin – drums...
s; unlike Dante, Vergil embraces his devil side. He is a main character and boss in Devil May Cry 3 as well as a playable character in the game's Special Edition. After he is betrayed by Arkham at the end of the game's second act (the end of mission 13), he temporarily teams up with Dante near the end, before reverting to his villain role. Throughout the game, Vergil seeks to undo the seal of Sparda hidden within the Demonic Domain, and claim the entirety of their father's power for his own, regardless of the effects this will have on the human world. To do so he needed Dante's half of their mother's amulet, so he lured his brother out with the intent of taking it by force. His dialogue at the end of mission 7 indicates that he seeks this power to compensate for being unable to save their mother.
Vergil battles Dante three times in the Devil May Cry 3 storyline. Their first battle is on the highest level of Temen-Ni-Gru, where Dante is soundly defeated by Vergil, who then takes Dante's amulet. Their second battle is at the bottom of the tower, where the twins battle to a draw before their battle is interrupted. Their final battle is near the entrance to the demon realm, where Vergil is finally defeated. While Dante escapes back to the human world, Vergil chooses to stay behind.
Should the player be able to defeat at least 100 demons before the credits finish, the player is shown a cutscene with Vergil rising to his feet in a lake of blood, and looking into the sky to see three large glowing orbs in the sky – Mundus as he first appeared in Devil May Cry. Vergil decides that if his father was able to defeat Mundus he can too, and then charges at the orbs with his sword ready. Vergil survives his encounter with Mundus, but becomes enslaved and apparently brainwashed. In the first game, he appears as a demonic dark knight, called Nelo Angelo. Dante encounters Nelo Angelo three times in Devil May Cry, and each time Nelo Angelo sees Dante's half of the amulet, he flees the battle. In their final encounter, Nelo Angelo uncovers his face to reveal that he is Vergil. In the end Nelo Angelo appears to explode, leaving his half of the amulet behind. Vergil is voiced by Daniel Southworth in Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, while Nelo Angelo is voiced by David Kelley in Devil May Cry.
The Order of the Sword used fragments of Nelo Angelo in order to create the Alto and Bianco Angelos, artificial demons consisting of a suit of armor powered by a human or demon's soul.
Vergil's sword, the Yamato, is used by Nero in Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry 4 is an action game that was published and developed by Capcom in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows platforms. The game is the fourth installment to the Devil May Cry series....
, it being restored when Nero's inner demon awakens. Dante tries to reclaim the Yamato from Nero, stating that the sword was his brother's, originally used to seal the gate between the realms and that it needed to remain in the family. In the end, Dante entrusts Nero to keep the Yamato with confidence.
Vergil appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It is an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After the events of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disrupted the development schedule for downloadable content for the original game, the additional content was made into a...
.
Agnus
First appearing in Devil May Cry 4, Agnus is the chief technological researcher and alchemist of the Holy Knights, as part of this office he develops demon-eradicating weapons for the Holy Knights. He seems to be introverted and a workaholic, rarely showing up in any event. Because of this, only few people of the cult know about him.[42] Later, it is discovered that he has been experimenting with the broken Yamato and creating demon-based weapons. Agnus also possesses an alternate form, resembling what looks like a cross between a beetle and a moth. During times of stress he speaks with a pronounced and noticeable stutter. Towards the end of the game he is killed by Dante while trying to prevent him from taking back the Yamato.He is voiced by T.J Storm.
Credo
Captain of the "Holy Knights", a strict man of justice and commander of hundreds of subordinates. Credo excels in the battlefield as the best of the Holy Knights and is admired by many. Credo is Kyrie's older brother and also sees Nero as family, but is not content with his unreliable behavior. He is the one who orders Nero on the quest to capture Dante for Sanctus's 'assassination', but it turns out that Credo was part of Sanctus's agenda to bring about the Order's 'Savior'. Later in the game, he tries to arrest Nero after learning of his possession of demonic power, and Credo himself transforms into a winged creature which he believes is his angelic form, though he inadvertently has become a demon himself. Even though he has become far more powerful than he ever was, Nero defeats him. When Kyrie is kidnapped to be used by the Order for Sanctus's grand plan, Credo loses his faith in the Order for using his sister as a tool for their plan and tries to help Nero and save Kyrie. He gets mortally wounded by Sanctus while trying to save Nero from capture, but his efforts were in vain as Nero gets absorbed into the Savior. In his last breath, he requests Dante to save Nero and his sister Kyrie, and dies as his body dissipates into light, apparently to Heaven for his heroic sacrifice. This event marks the mid-point of Devil May Cry 4, after which Dante is introduced as a playable character.Eva
Eva was the human wife of Sparda and mother of the twins DanteDante (Devil May Cry)
is the primary fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series published by Capcom. The character and Devil May Cry are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over nine million copies worldwide as of 2008 and currently spans four video games...
and Vergil. She was killed in a demon attack, but sometime before that she gave each of the boys half of Sparda's amulet as a birthday gift. Eva herself only appears as a photo on Dante's desk and as a voice in a flashback in the first Devil May Cry game. Trish is created to look exactly like Eva. The character (Eva) is voiced by Sarah Lafleur
Sarah Lafleur
Sarah Lafleur is a Canadian-born actress, most recognizable for her roles in Ugly Betty , The Mentalist , Grey's Anatomy , CSI: NY , Crossing Jordan , Without a Trace , Playmakers ; and the films Shall We Dance? , Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story and Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story...
.
Enzo Ferino
Enzo does not appear in any of the currently released video games within the Devil May Cry series, but was mentioned as an associate of Dante in the manual for the first game. The character has appeared in the novels/manga/anime as Dante's contact with the mercenary world, as well as a friend. He has also appeared in Dreamwave's Devil May Cry comic. In the first Devil May Cry Drama CD that was based on the anime Enzo is featured and is voiced by Yasunori MatsumotoYasunori Matsumoto
is a Japanese voice actor. He currently works for Sigma Seven, formerly for Production Baobab.-About:Some of Matsumoto's most notable roles are Wataru Akiyama in Initial D, Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist, Magnum Ace in Shippū! Iron Leaguer, Gourry Gabriev in Slayers and Ryou in Sonic Soldier...
. The name Enzo is also used in the game Bayonetta, who's gameplay and story line is closely related to Devil May Cry.
Kyrie
Kyrie is a supporting character in Devil May Cry 4. She was born and raised in Fortuna, is the sister of Credo, the leader of the Order of the Sword, and songstress for their festival. Kyrie is the childhood friend of Nero, as well as his love interest. After being tricked into believing Nero is evil, she is held hostage by Agnus, successfully drawing Nero to the Savior, where Kyrie is fused into it before he can arrive. When Dante frees Nero from his captivity within the Savior, Nero is then able to effectively free Kyrie, who has accepted Nero once again, arm and all, and wishes to spend her days with him.The character is voiced by Stephanie Sheh
Stephanie Sheh
Stephanie Ru-Phan Sheh is a Chinese-American voice actress, a writer, and a story editor who has worked for Geneon Entertainment, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Bandai Entertainment, Media Blasters, NYAV Post, FUNimation Entertainment, and Viz Media...
and motion captured by Laura Napoli.
Matier
Matier is a secondary character that appeared in Devil May Cry 2. Matier is an old woman and like Lucia, is part of the clan of Vie de Marli. In her younger days, she and her clan fought against the demons alongside Sparda. Matier is cheerful and optimistic, and always seems sure of Dante's eventual victory. She is the one who guides Lucia to reunite the Arcanas (mystical relics) and to lure Dante to their island, to whom she never refers by his name but rather calls "Son of Sparda". At first it is claimed that Matier is Lucia's mother, but it's later revealed that Lucia was in fact created by Arius who planned to dispose of her, until Matier found her and raised her as a daughter. In the end she tells Lucia not to worry and that Dante will eventually return from the demon world. She is voiced by Flo Di Re.Critical reception
Upon the release of the original Devil May Cry, Dante's personality received positive reviews, IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
described the character as a "maverick head-hunter" as well as a "believable" character, his actions and abilities were regarded as being able to make the player reach the conclusion that they are "awesome." Dante's confident and fearless attitude have gained him widespread popularity. He was ranked as the seventh of Game Crush's "Top 10: Most Badass Video Game Characters" list, and third among the "Top ten coolest video game characters" list of Screwattack. Outside of the main character the demonic enemies, were reviewed as "ferocious" while the sub-bosses were "incredibly tough" and the bosses (most notably Dante's villainous brother Vergil), were "very tough", providing a significant amount of the game's challenges. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
reviewed the design of the demons as "some of the most bizarre looking creatures you will find this side of American McGee's Alice." while the proportion of the bosses were perceived as "vast" and their battles were described as requiring different strategies, making an exclusion when pointing that the fights with "Nightmare" prove repetitive. When reviewing Devil May Cry 2 GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
felt that the characters lacked personality. This was based on the removal of distinctive traits from Dante and that Lucia's role in the plot was significantly short, not allowing time to develop the character. The publication labeled the game's enemies as "mindless", noting that most of them including the "bosses" could be defeated using the default attacks.
The missions where the player controls Vergil in Devil May Cry 3 were reviewed as adding "an all-new and unique play style", and being able to play his story arc as " such a blast that Capcom could probably have released his modes separately for $19.99 and gotten away with it." After the prequel's release there were talks about including Lady as the main character of a spin-off game, which was perceived as a "interesting idea" but the project did not progress and was subsequently discarded. The designs used for characters in Devil May Cry 4 were described as resembling a "legion of seraphim the likes of which gamers have never seen before, and it puts an interesting spin on what all of our preconceptions of 'good' are in a video game", the publication also said that they shared visual elements with military personnel employed by real religions, by noting that "Considering the visual nature of the heavily-armored, winged, angelic warriors scattered around the various missions, it'd be easy to confuse these characters with crusaders of Christian origin."
Merchandise
Outside of the games, anime and manga the characters of Devil May Cry have appeared in several types of merchandise. These include novels, comic books, a skin variation for the PlayStation PortablePlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, a special edition of the PS3 console and several soundtracks. Capcom has made other merchandise available in their official shopping website e-Capcom. These include concept art for the Animated Series, several t-shirt designs, rings, collars and hand bags. The popularity of the Devil May Cry series lead to a line of Devil May Cry action figures produced by Toycom. Japanese company Kaiyodo
Kaiyodo
thumb|320px|Kaiyodo Figure Museum Kurokabe is a Japanese company dedicated to figurines and garage kits. Its headquarters is in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture. While the company mostly focuses on anime related characters, it recently has acquired other licenses, e.g...
produced a similar line for Devil May Cry 2 and a Devil May Cry 3 Dante action figure. Kotobukiya published statues of based on the franchise's characters after the release of the anime, these included Vergil and Dante and were followed by a Devil May Cry 4 series. Micellaneous merchandise includes posters and frame stamps conmemorating the series' fifth anniversary.