Dante’s brother and Sparda’s son, this Devil May Cry villain is one of the saga’s most beloved characters.
“I am the storm that is approaching / Provoking / Dark clouds of isolation / I am reclaimer of my name … / Born in flames! / I have been blessed! / My family crest is a demon of death!”. With a custom tailored song, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition was announced with a long-awaited addition: Vergil as a playable character. Antagonist of the saga and mortal enemy of Dante, the other son of Sparda is a villain much loved by the fans of this great Capcom work. Its combat system, as elegant as it, is a joy at the controls. Today at FreeGameTips we talk about the history of the blue twin.
NOTE: In this report there are spoilers for the Devil May Cry saga.
A long-lived brotherly rivalry
The rivalry between Dante and Vergil is based on a narrative topic so old that it has its own biblical version: Cain and Abel. Sibling enmity is the narrative core of many stories, and where we frame the Devil May Cry story. The Sparda twins have been built from a binomial that presents them as opposites both in aesthetics and personality. While Dante’s crimson outfit projects the character’s passion and impudence, Vergil’s blue is associated with coolness and tranquility. The same manual for Devil May Cry 3, where he introduced the character before he became Nero Angelo, described Vergil as someone “so cold it borders on the relentless.”
Dante and Vergil, eternal brothers and rivals
In the first Devil May Cry, Dante sets out on a journey to hunt down Mundus, the demon who had faced Sparda and who later killed him, his wife Eva and, supposedly, Dante’s twin brother. When the demon hunter fights the devil named Nelo Angelo – a misspelled version of Nero Angelo – he recognizes on his neck the pendant that his mother gave her little ones. Thus, we know that Vergil was killed by demons and his soul has been subjected to the control of Mundus. However, in the book Devil May Cry: 3142 Graphic Arts we read how screenwriter Bingo Morihashi created a new destiny for Dante’s brother, for which Hideki Kamiya gave him the green light. Thus, the writer was in charge of giving a history and human appearance to the young man who would become the antagonist of the saga. Morihashi started his creative process from one of the previous sketches, where Vergil brandished his signature Yamato katana. Designing Vergil, according to the screenwriter, was a challenge, since he had to surpass Dante in charisma, who had won the hearts of the fans.
Like the rest of the characters in Devil May Cry, as well as many other elements of the play, they take inspiration from The Divine Comedy. Just as Dante Alighieri had the poet Virgil as his guide through Hell, Capcom offers us a perverse version of this journey: Vergil is the one who claims Dante, the justification for his journey to the Underworld to save humanity. Brother and rival, he is an eternal companion in continuous fights for as long as the demon hunter himself can remember.
Vergil, the Alpha and the Omega
In Devil May Cry 3, Vergil is featured as one of the main villains along with Arkham. However, and despite the rivalry between siblings, throughout the game we see how the twins are not capable of rejecting the emotional bond that unites them. In Devil May Cry: 3142 Graphic Arts, Bingo Morihashi expresses that the leitmotif of Devil May Cry has always been love. In the third installment, specifically, family love is discussed, despite dysfunctional relationships. Just as Lady seeks revenge against her father, and is traumatized by his death, Dante cannot help the pain of losing his brother. Moments before Vergil disappears through the portal to the Underworld that he himself has opened, the twins momentarily ally against Arkham. Here we observe a certain complicity when Vergil gives in to “do things your way” (referring to his brother), and takes one of his pistols to execute a man who has used him and exploited brotherly enmity. When they part, Dante cannot help a few tears that, as much as he tries to hide, are perceived by Lady. This loss originates the name of the demon hunter’s agency: Devil May Cry (The devil may cry).
Evil, but cultured and elegant
In TV Tropes several of the traits that make Vergil a character loved by players are analyzed. One of them is the cliché known as affable evil: “Despite his violent and selfish acts, focused on his quest for power, he is still charming and joking like his brother Dante. In addition, he is guided by a code of honor to which he remains faithful even if it conflicts with his plans. In Devil May Cry 5, one of the first things he does is thank Nero in a very sincere way for helping him regain his demonic part as V. ” Likewise, he also follows the stereotype of the cultured villain: since he was a child, Vergil has been a lover of literature and especially William Blake, he expresses himself with a literary register, adores classical music, knows how to play the violin and dance tap dance. This part is deepened through V, his human half, who highlights these characteristics that make Vergil an earthly and charismatic villain.
With Vergil we can also kill demons.
GamesRadar chooses Dante and Vergil as one of the best rival couples in video games, and analyzes how their relationship with their demonic side is the epicenter of their enmity: “They were born to a super powerful father like Sparda, and they both have different notions of how to use their powers. Dante uses his abilities to hunt down evil demons and find the one responsible for his mother’s death and his brother’s corruption. Instead, Vergil uses his power for evil, stopping at nothing in order to get his father’s power. Besides, they are the most stylish twins in the entire history of videogames. ” Vergil’s ambition and his obsession with achieving power are other of his personal marks.
In Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, we find a new incentive: playing with Vergil. Hideaki Itsuno recounted in 1UP how they designed the combat system for this new playable character in such a way that it conveyed his personality and background: “Vergil is much stronger than Dante, but more difficult to use. When you start the game, Vergil proves more powerful than his brother, to an overwhelming level. But as you progress, it becomes increasingly difficult to master him and squeeze his full potential. So we can say that Dante is easier to control and his power is more manageable. “The most remarkable thing about Vergil’s fighting style is that he doesn’t use pistols: his Yamato conveys a more traditional style than that of the demon hunter. .
Vergil in Devil May Cry from Ninja Theory
Ninja Theory also took Dante and Vergil’s relationship into account when creating their version of Devil May Cry. Capcom producer Alex Jones explained on VG247 how they had come up with a new story without neglecting the strange brotherhood between Sparda’s children: “Vergil makes a lot of sense within the pantheon of previous Devil May Cry installments. We’re giving a new origin to Dante and we’ve changed a lot of canon history, including the relationship between Dante and Vergil. We do not want to reveal everything, but we will say that he is Dante’s brother, head of the Order and that he has been looking at Dante for a long time. He has waited for the best moment to appear before him and recruit him for his master plan of defeating the demons. Our goal was to ensure that everyone who had played a Devil May Cry did not feel our game as an alien experience “.
Vergil’s humanity
On Devil May 4, we watch Vergil arrive in Fortuna. During his stay, he conceives of Nero and his relationship is not revealed until Devil May Cry 5. During an interview for Variety, Hideaki Itsuno reveals how he built the emotionality of the encounter between Nero, Vergil and Dante. Inspired by mecha anime, Itsuno recalls how in a scene from one of his favorite series, the missing father of a character makes a triumphant comeback with a new robot that no one has seen before, and how he defeats his attackers in the blink of an eye. and close your eyes. “This moment brought him to the essential climax of Devil May Cry 5”, they analyze in Variety. “Nero stands between Vergil and Dante, who begin their great battle. Nero smashes his Devil Breaker and unlocks a new power within him, his own Devil Trigger, and he becomes a much more powerful warrior. “” Normally, characters reach their full potential in the middle of the game, “says Itsuno. “But we wanted Nero to wake up his full power towards the end of the game so that the audience would say ‘Oh my gosh, what’s this!’
Urizen, the demonic side of Vergil
In Devil May Cry 5, V’s identity doesn’t leave too many mysteries for the minimally clever player. The revealing initial of his name, his laid-back character, his passion for Blake’s poetry. Even some clues about Vergil’s past, which V himself knows, advance a revelation that does not surprise. Finally, when the half human and half demon are reunited again, Vergil appears on the scene. The game itself presents him as “the Alpha and the Omega.”
In Devil May Cry 5, we witness scenes that show Vergil in his privacy and allow us to see his forgotten humanity and his pain. We discover how the boy believed his mother had abandoned him during the attack on Mundus, when in reality the woman did not come to rescue him alive. In one of his lonely moments, the semi-demon maintains the following reflection: “That day, if you were in my place and I in yours, would our destinies be different? Would you have my life and I yours? Let’s end this … . Dante “.
V, Vergil’s humanity.
Vergil’s appearance in the game is anticipated by a series of events culminating in a very emotional outburst: V, the human half of Vergil, has reunited with Urizen, who is the demonic half — with another reference to William Blake. After that, Dante and his brother once again engage in an epic duel that every player hopes and wishes. During this fight to the death, Nero interferes, unleashes his power, and then confronts Vergil to end an almost eternal feud. “This, this is the moment I wanted the audience to start crying,” Itsuno proudly points out in an interview for Kotaku.
Bury the light
Finally, Vergil has a spark of redemption. Faced with the impending disaster created by the growth of Qliphoth, Dante and Vergil go to the Underworld to cut off the roots and then seal the portal with Yamato. After that, they will be sealed in hell forever, and Nero will take over. The boy’s father says goodbye to him with a promise that hints at a future duel, and leaves V’s book of poems as a souvenir: “Next time, I won’t lose. Save this until then. “
Nero breaks into the duel between Dante and Vergil
Like the other playable characters in Devil May Cry 5, Vergil has a theme to accompany his sequences: “Bury The Light.” With the initial violin representing the musical taste of the half-demon, the song distorts into a harsh, melancholic melody. Composer Casey Edwards describes her on his personal Twitter as follows: “Bury the Light is like the reflection of the Devil Trigger. Like Nero, he is Vergil’s ‘reflection’. Nero chose to embrace the darkness within him and accept his demonic side. Vergil, on the other hand, always tried to bury his humanity as this is a great source of personal pain and memory of weakness ”.
Dante conquered us with a scoundrel and a carelessness that did not deny, on the other hand, his goodness and altruism. For his part, Vergil shows us his humanity, despite his diabolical ambition. With his verses, fireproof motivation, and refined demeanor, there can be no Devil May Cry without just one of Sparda’s twins.
