Devil May Cry Verse Analysis

The time has come and so have I...

Words cannot describe how happy it makes me that I get to wake up every morning knowing that the real Devil May Cry is back and not just a dream.

Reboot? What reboot? That was just a horrible nightmare...

One I can wash the memories of away with this:

Not only does this new game do away with DINO (Dante in Name Only) and his romp through Limbo City with all the grace and style of a middle schooler who just learned about the F word, it does so with a contender for Game of the Year that makes long-time fans and up and coming Devil Hunters alike absolutely crazy about getting motivated to pulling their Devil Triggers. (I deserve a SSS rank for all the references I managed to fit into that.)

But alas, this is not a review. For what better way to celebrate quality than to...taint it with VS trash?

Now let's see what our favorite pizza-loving party demons have been up to.

*Disclaimer: Obviously, there will be spoilers if you haven't beaten DMC5 yet.*

Story Synopsis

Two thousand years ago, the Legendary Dark Knight (eat your heart out, Batman) Sparda turned against his demon brethren and waged war against Hell, before sealing it off and siring two children with his human lover, Eva. The two boys were named Dante and Vergil, and on their eighth birthday the forces of the underworld attacked them in an act of revenge. Eva was killed and Vergil was missing and presumed dead, leaving Dante alone to carry on his father's legacy of protecting the human world from demons.

Today, Dante is a hero for hire who operates in his shop Devil May Cry (which he renamed to Devil Never Cry, which didn't last long because that sounds dumb), assisted by fellow Devil Hunters Lady and Trish, along with his nephew Nero and professional gunsmith Nico. Dante and associates deal with supernatural threats and the most frightening enemy of all: debt. 

Feats

 

Mundus destroys Mallet Island (18:04)

 For context, Mundus is the final boss of DMC1. Dante defeats him by transforming with the Sparda sword, then Trish helps finish him off. Trish and Dante escape the island on a plane and the island is destroyed in his death throes. 

Berial destroys a small ghost town (2:30)

I say "town" but this is MCB at best. This is consistent with other bosses from DMC2 and 3, and should scale to them and the Devil Hunters.

Dante catches the Savior's fist (5:45)

The Savior is essentially a giant mech piloted by Sanctus, the main villain of the game. Nero kills Santus from the inside as it's falling, so he's basically just catching the weight, but it's still a solid physical strength feat as he does it casually and should also apply to his durability as well.

Dante and Vergil destroy the Qliphoth

3:03:09

Now, this thing eventually grows high enough to reach the upper layers of the atmosphere and is visible from space, which would make this feat continental... if they destroyed the entire structure. However, Vergil says "We need to sever the Qliphoth from its roots...Then we'll seal the portal with the Yamato" (2:55:26), implying they cut through it, thus removing it's energy supply and causing it to crumble, rather than just pulverizing the whole thing.

(Special thanks to Swan and Lousy for helping me with this calc)

See those rectangular objects floating on the debris? Those are buildings (orange line). Assuming they are similar to the size of the buildings we see in Dante’s missions, they’re about 10-12 stories tall. Each story can be up to 10 feet, or about 3.1 meters.
3.1*12=37.2

9 pixels=37.2 meters
1 pixel=4.13 meters

Yellow line=28 pixels
28 pixels=115.64 meters

Now we convert to meters cubed, since we’re measuring the mass of a 3D object.

115.64^3=155657.17 m^3
We’ll assume the same for depth.


Every branch: 227 pixels
Now that we have the dimensions of the object, we can plug in our values.






Surface Area Sheared Through = 13372.6096 M^2

I know the structure is technically composed of a bunch of branches, but using steel should be fine, since it fuses with concrete and steel from the city it envelopes, and would have to be comparable to that in order to maintain such a large mass anyway.

Shear strength of steel seems to vary between 230 and 1034.2 Megapascals

1 Megapascal = 1000000 newtons/m^2

1000000 * 230 = 230000000 N/M^2
1000000 * 1034.2 = 1034200000 N/M^2

Low End: 13372.6096 * 230000000 = 3075700208000 N

High End: 13372.6096 * 1034200000 = 13829952848320 N

Energy = Force * Distance

Distance the force was exerted over = 115.64 meters

3075700208000 * 115.64 = 355673972053120 joules
13829952848320 * 115.64 = 1599295747379724.8 joules

Multiply both of those by .1 to account for that boner-deflating hollow space.

Low End: 35567397205312 joules or 8500.8119515564049 tons of TNT (Town Level)
High End: 159929574737972.48 joules or 38224.085740433190949 tons of TNT (Large Town Level).

Now to redo all that, but for all the branches…

Width of every branch = 937.51 meters (Radius = 468.755M)

Surface area of all the branches = 690306.08084264 M^2

690306.08084264 * 230000000 = 158,770,398,593,807.2 N
690306.08084264 * 1034200000 = 713,914,548,807,458.288 N

Energy = Force * Distance

Distance the force was exerted over = 937.51 M

158770398593807.2 * 937.51
713914548807458.288 * 937.51

148,848,836,385,680,188.072 joules
669,302,028,652,480,219.58288 joules

Empty space again

Low End: 14,884,883,638,568,018.8072 joules or 3557572.5713594690897 tons of TNT
High End: 66,930,202,865,248,021.958288 joules or 15996702.405652012676 tons of TNT

 That's 16-ish MT, or City Level.

 Abigail causes Continental cloud dispersal and illumination in the anime

 Huh... so they are continental after all! And since DMC5 established the manga, anime and 
light novels as part of the timeline, I see no reason why this shouldn't be used. I've seen people 
discredit this as prep time and that it doesn't scale to anyone, however I've seen every episode and 
Dante kills this guy right after he does it, so even if it is prep (I guess technically the transformation is 
but again, Dante beats Abigail in this form so...) he should still get it (not to mention it should easily 
scale to Urizen in DMC5, easily the most powerful big bad that Dante has had to face) If you take 
issue with it, see for yourself.

Casual bullet and missile timing

Dante and Vergil cut bullets out of the air (3:40)

 Catching a bullet with his teeth

Dante reacts to a missile...and proceeds to ride it like a surfboard

  For reference, missiles on average can travel from mach 5-mach 17, depending on the fuel and ballistic used.

Dante shoots missiles and does a bunch of flashy moves before his enemies hit the ground

Lightning Dodging

Lady dodging Trish's lightning in the anime

Lightning dodging from Cavaliere Angelo

Explosion and lightning dodging from King Cerberus

Dante is able to track and react to the lightning demon Blitz

The characters

So, now that we have the feats of the verse in a general sense, it's important to know which ones 
scale to whom, as well as the individual powers of each major character. Keep in mind, this is not a 
complete analysis of each character, this will just be a brief overview of their more relevant feats, 
abilities, and most current arsenal.

Dante

 The half-demon son of Sparda and founder of the Devil May Cry demon-hunting business. The 
protagonist of the series, though that torch may be passed to the younger Nero soon enough. 

Likely also the most powerful character surpassing even his father, so naturally most feats and scaling
would apply to him.

Stats

DC/Durability: Island level in base, continental to muti-continental in DT forms (likely in base as well 
when not holding back)

Speed: Massively Hypersonic (consistent lightning dodging, scales to Lady and Vergil)

Weapons

Devil Sword Dante

A sword that is essentially a better version of every sword he's ever wielded. It being named after him 
is indictative of him surpassing his father in power, as he also had a sword named after him, which 
Dante absorbed along with his older sword Rebellion in order to acheive this weapon and a new form.
It can fire sword beams and Summoned Swords similar to Vergil that move independently to attack 
enemies and protect Dante. He can summon it out of thin air at any time and it allows him to enter his 
new and strongest form, Sin Devil Trigger (see abilities).

Cavalier

Flesh and armor Dante cleaved off from Cavalier Angelo fused with a motorcycle. It is effectively a 
chainsaw motorcycle he can split into two and dual-weild.

I'll say that again: DUAL-WEILDED. CHAINSAW. MOTORCYCLES.

Balrog 

Essentially a combination of every pair of melee boots and gauntlets Dante has used over the years. 
Gained from a powerful fire demon he killed offscreen, Balrog allows Dante a variety of rapid fire 
punches, rolls, dodges, and counterpunches as well as wheel kicks and... a Shoryuken?

This weapon's moves are likely a reference to a certain series of individuals who fight on streets, 
one of which Dante shares an English voice actor with...

King Cerberus

Pretty much a better version (starting to notice a theme here?) of Dante's old Cerberus nunchucks 
from DMC3. In addition to cryokinesis, it also grants him control over fire and lightning. Can also be 
fashioned into a chain whip or polearm.

Ebony and Ivory

A pair of pistols that had to be custom made for Dante due to him breaking every mundane gun he 
used. They can handle his energy being projected through them as well as being fired at a rapid rate 
like a machine gun.

Coyote-A

Just... a shotgun. Okay, fine it can handle being wielded by Dante too.

Double Kalina Ann

One of Lady's rocket launchers dual-weided with a copy made by Nico. Can be put together to fire a 
concussive beam of energy. 

Faust

A hat that drains Red Orbs (outside a gameplay context, this basically means it drains and crystalizes 
demon blood) from enemies and can be used to create constructs or projectiles that can be projected 
while using other attacks.

Also... this.

Powers and abilities

Air Trick

An After-image like ability Dante developed to adapt to Vergil's quickness and teleportation. It allows 
him to zip around the battlefield so fast that it appears to his enemies that he is teleporting. Mind you, 
half of said enemies have supersonic to hypersonic reactions.

Energy projection

Dante can project his demonic energy through his weapons to increase their potency as well as 
create sword beams and energy barriers.

Regeneration

Can get back up after being impaled no worse for wear and heals rapidly from bullet wounds.

Quicksilver

An ability he aquired after defeating Geryon the Timesteed that allows him to slow down time as he 
moves freely.

Doppelganger
Can produce a shadow clone of himself he can either command or have act independently. 

Royal Guard
A defensive stance he takes in which he can absorb the kinetic energy from enemy attacks and 
store it for later use. Can project the energy he has accumulated back at his opponent with a 
technique called Royal Release.

Weapon Proficiency

Can adapt quickly to any new weapon or ability he acquires.

Hax Resistance

Dante has resisted abilities such as soul/life drain as well as spatial hax such as from Yamato and 
Vergil's Dimension Cut.

Devil Trigger

A transformation that drastically increases his power and speed, accelerates his regeneration, and 
enhances whatever weapons he is weilding. It also grants him additional powers such as 
electrokinesis, pyrokinesis, wind manipulation, and flight.

Majiin Devil Trigger

A defense mechanism form that is only triggered if Dante is brought to near death, hence why it is so 
rarely seen. It allows powerful energy blasts and psychic constructs that can be fired from a distance, 
as well as long, needle-like armblades that can drain energy and paralyze enemies.

Sin Devil Trigger

Dante's new form that really has nothing to do with sin, but they probably just called it that because it 
sounded cool. This is Dante's most powerful transformation, far surpassing his father Sparda and able 
to defeat Urizen after he got a power boost from the Qliphoth Fruit. He can fly, teleport, can create
 energy constructs, and appears to have some minor spatial hax such as opening portals in enemies.

Weaknesses

-Though Dante has a healing factor, it can be overtaxed if someone is able to keep up with him and 
deal significant damage to him over long periods of time (Vergil), or by enemies who are able to 
one-shot KO him (Urizen).

-Terrible money management skills, always in debt 

Nero

The second generation of Sparda's descendants. He has powers similar to Dante yet is not quite on par with him up until the end of DMC5 when he gets his own Devil Trigger. He also has a demon arm throughout DMC4 that gives him some of his own abilities setting him apart from Dante, but then gets it cut off by Vergil before regenerating a new human one.

He probably gets more character development than anyone else, essentially the Miles Morales of the DMC-verse.

Stats

DC/Dura: Around Town to City level in base (stronger than most demons in the verse but significantly weaker than Dante in 4 and throughout most of 5), Continent level in DT (He blocks an attack from Dante and Vergil while both have intent to kill each other, defeats Vergil with his DT form)

Speed: Massively Hypersonic (Can keep up with Dante and Vergil, defeats Blitz)

Weapons

Red Queen

A sword with a motorcycle-like throttle (I'm beginning to think somebody at Capcom has an oddly specific motorcycle sword fetish) that can be revved up to increase its power and ignite with flames to simultaneously burn while cutting and ignite demons on fire.

Blue Rose

A custom double-barrel pistol that fires multiple shots at once. Several rounds can be loaded in for a spread shot. Nero can also charge bullets with his energy to deal more damage and have them explode from inside enemies.

Devil Breakers

Robotic arms that replaced his severed one, each with their own unique abilities. After he grew his arm back, Nico modified them to fit over his existing arm. With any of these, Nero can use a Wire Snatch that pulls enemies close to him, or detonate it to stagger enemies while he refits another arm.

-Gerbera

Shoots short-ranged energy shots for damage or boosting away for a quick escape. Also releases a powerful beam of plasma.

-Overture

Releases strong bursts of electricity. Can stun and stagger opponents while damaging them.

-Punch Line

A detatchable jet-propelled arm that flies into enemies and rapidly punches them. Nero can also ride on this, taking a page from Dante's book in his younger days.

-Helter-Skelter

A drill-arm that, well, drills through enemies.

-Buster

Replicates his old Buster arm from DMC4 that allowed him to grapple and toss around giant building-sized demons (pretty much becomes obsolete by the end of the game since he gets it back).

-Tomboy

When activated, enhances Red Queen and Blue Rose to maximum capacity. Self-destructs after use.

-Rawhide

A whiplike arm with an extendable wire with a steel-bladed end. Can be whipped around at rapid speeds.

-Ragtime

A Devil Breaker made from parts of Geryon. Allows Nero to slow down time within chronal spheres or within a street-level range.

He also has extra arms like Megaman's Megabuster, though this is probably just a joke/Easter Egg since it doesn't really make sense lore-wise.

Regeneration

Before, it was assumed that regen for characters in DMC only healed stab wounds and bullet holes but wouldn't really help with something major like dismemberment, though after achieving his DT form in DMC5 he is able to restore his severed arm.

Energy Projection

Similar to Dante, can project his energy through weapons and projectiles.

Snatch

Can extend a ghost-like projection of his arm across great distances to pull himself towards positions or demons towards him. Talk about a phantom limb.

Summoned Swords

An ability to project energy blades similar to Vergil's.

Devil Trigger

In DMC4, he had a Stand-like projection of his father's Devil Trigger that surrounded him. In DMC5, he gets his own DT that gives him a MASSIVE power boost, enough to be on par with both Dante and Vergil in their DT forms.

Trish

A demon Mundus created in Eva's (Dante's mother) image in order to manipulate Dante. She eventually warms up to him (after filling her dark soul with  LIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHT) and helps him defeat her master. Now, she's a fellow Devil Hunter and sometimes helps Dante on his missions.

Stats

DC/dura: Around Island level (Staggers DMC1 Dante, helps in the final battle with Mundus)

Speed: Massively Hypersonic (Scales to Lady and DMC4 Nero)

Weapons

Used to wield the Sparda sword before Dante absorbed it, now just has unnamed (at least afaik) swords and guns.

Powers and Abilities

Electrokinesis

Summons and projects lightning

Illusions/disguises
Can create illusions and disguises (such as when she disguised herself as Gloria to infiltrate the Order of the Sword) and can magically create clothes and outfits on herself.

Lady

A fellow Devil Hunter Dante met in DMC3. Her father Arkham sacrificed their mother to gain demonic power, and she was determined to kill him for revenge. Arkham opened a portal to the demon world, and she eventually got her revenge by killing him after Dante and Vergil softened him up in his transformed state. She empathizes with Dante because both of them know what it's like to have to kill a family member. He also owes her money...

Way hotter than Trish, my secret second waifu, don't tell Raven

Stats

DC/dura: Around Island level (fights Trish on a few occasions, should scale to DMC4 Nero) 

Speed: Massively Hypersonic (Dodges Trish's lightning)

Weapons

Guns

And lots of them. Including uzis, pistols, semi-autos, and grenade launchers.

Grenades

Self-explanatory

Kalina Ann

A large missile launcher she baddassly (is that a word? It should be) lugs around with no effort. Can release a barrage of mini-missiles or full-on rockets. Also has a grappling hook and a mounted bayonet. 

Powers and Abilities

Accelerated Healing/Survivability

Though not on the same level as the descendants of Sparda, she does have some superhuman healing and survivability. She takes her own weapon stabbed through her entire leg, then just slaps a bandage on it and walks it off. 

Vergil

Dante's power-hungry twin brother and one motivated boi. The death of their parents drove Vergil on a never-ending conquest to gain more strength so that he would never feel weak or helpless again. He also seems interested in unlocking more of Dante's potential through fighting him, the only tangible memory the two of them had after their mother died, their own strange way of bonding you could say.

If Nero is Miles, Vergil is Loki because he's had just about as many fakeout deaths and ressurections.

Might. Controls. Everything.

Stats

DC/Dura: Continent level (scales to Dante, obtains the power boost he gained after the Qliphoth Fruit)

Speed: Massively Hypersonic (One of the fastest if not the fastest character in the series, scales to everyone else's speed feats)

Weapons

Yamato

A plain-looking yet powerful katana that separates the human world from Hell. Is able to create portals and has Spatial Manipulation. Is also durable enough to block attacks from Dante's weapons.

Beowulf

Gauntlets that project light-based magic.

He also once wielded Force Edge, but that became Sparda and we know what happened to that sword.

Powers and Abilities

Energy projection

Creates sword beams and projects his energy though weapons. Similar to Dante.

Regeneration

On par with Dante.

Summoned Swords

Much more versatile than Nero or Dante with this ability. Can surround himself or opponents with them and project them virtually anywhere.

Teleportation

An ability unique to Vergil that Dante cannot do without Sin Devil Trigger.

Ressurrection

Has returned from death several times. Though, this is likely attributed to him literally being able to cut his way out of Hell with Yamato.

Devil Trigger

Virtually the same as Dante, except in appearance and lacking electro and pyrokinesis.

Sin Devil Trigger

Similar to Dante. Also gains a lightsaber-like plasma sword on his arm that is the true form of Yamato. Still retains its Spatial properties.

Now comes the... let's say interesting part.

Demon King Urizen

A physical representation of Vergil's lust for power that was allowed to manifest after Vergil impaled himself with Yamato and forcibly removed his human side from his body and consciousness. That's right, the big bad of DMC5 is none other than Dante's own flesh and blood...sort of. 

He constructed the Qliphoth with prep (the big continent-sized thing in the calc), which fed on the blood and life force of humans until bearing fruit which he ate for another massive power boost.

Stats

DC/Dura: Continental + (One-shot Dante and broke Rebellion casually, a physical manifestation of Dante's power. Hyped up to being the most powerful threat Dante has faced, dwarfing the likes of Abigail and Mundus. This is before gaining a boost from the Qliphoth and its fruit.)

Speed: Hard to assess since he barely moves and usually just sheilds or tanks everything, but should still be MHS since he's able to hit Dante.

Weapons

None really other than energy constructs and a red crystal thingy he uses as a shield.

Powers and abilities

Energy Projection

Rains down streams of energy, projects energy spheres, barriers and beams

Constructs

Aforementioned red crystal shield thingy

Time manipulation

Slows down time within the vicinity

Spatial Manipulation

Opens up portals in reality, retains powers he had with Yamato

Weaknesses

Very narrow-minded, will go at any lengths for power

Overconfident, underestimates everyone 

Will become Vergil again if merged with V, his human side (not technically a weakness per say, as Vergil retains all power he gained as Urizen, he's just more focused and less dangerous in his goals and can be reasoned with when he regains his humanity)

V

A physical embodiment of Vergil's humanity, who loves poetry and looks suspiciously like Kylo Ren. He is physically one of the weakest characters, yet makes up for it by summoning demon familiars who are formed by Vergil's memories as Nelo Angelo in DMC1. He is a unique "wizard class" type character.

Stats

DC: Peak human to wall level at best in base form, around MCB to Town with familiars

Dura: Peak human to wall level in base form, around Town level in DT (able to defeat most of the fodder enemies and bosses, but not some of the stronger bosses)

Speed: Around supersonic (reacts to most enemy types, able to take evasive maneuvers)

Weapons

A cane, representative of how Vergil viewed his human side as a weakness. He can use his cane to finish off enemies the demon familiars have weakened.

Powers and abilities

Summons/Familiars

-Shadow

A panther creature made of a viscous, shape-shifting black substance that can use blades and tendrils to attack. V can ride on Shadow for speed.

-Griffon

A bird-like demon with a motor mouth that can fire electric blasts and summon lightning. He can carry V off to a safe distance and create proximity blasts to keep attackers off him.

-Nightmare

A huge goliath made of demon goop, swings its massive arms around and fires explosions and lasers. V can piggy-back on it for protection.

Devil Trigger

A sort of pseudo-DT where V uses the trace amounts of demonic essence leftover from Vergil's body to gain white hair, regen, and a power boost for a short period of time. Can only summon Nightmare when in this state.

Teleportation

Can teleport out of harm's way or from enemy to enemy to finish them off with his cane.

Weaknesses

-Physically the weakest non-civilian character, relies on demon summons to keep him safe

-Will actively seek out Urizen in order to merge with him and become Vergil again. If he doesn't do so within a month, he will crumble to dust.

Oh shit, I forgot Lucia! Ah well, most people usually skip DMC2 anyway...

Comparing DMC to other verses

The Legend of Zelda

Zelda could probably put up a decent fight against V, though most other characters steamroll through the Zelda-verse until they get to Hero of Time Link, who is honestly one of the best matchups for Dante. Both have island level base forms and continental transformations as well as a slew of interesting abilities and weapons that are comparable to one another. The only area where Link is lacking is in speed, which would ultimately decide the fight depending on whether or not he scales to lightning feats from Onyx and Demise (I don't believe he does since every Link is unique has their own set of abilities, ntm the problems I have with the feats themselves) and a closer examination of the Majora and Abigail feats to see if durability makes a difference.

The only worrisome thing though about the match is that you'd see people claiming that Link could kill Dante with the Master Sword since he's part demon, though Dante doesn't seem affected by light-based attacks, as he's tanked them before from Beowulf and Vergil's gauntlets, and he's not evil.

If we're talking full-on verse against verse though, DMC ultimately loses out against the Goddesses and full-power Demise.

Castlevania

Another interesting matchup for Dante would be Alucard or one of the Belmonts, probably Simon. Dracula from what I know has a few continental feats, and obviously they would scale. It works well thematically too with Alucard in particular, also being a halfling son of a father with demonic powers.

I'm hearing the term "universal" being thrown around a lot for the verse, but I'm taking it with a grain of salt until I see something more reputable.

Final Fantasy

This one's a bit iffy since each game is technically its own universe/timeline with some exceptions, but I'll go with 7 since that's the one I know the best. Dante, Vergil, and Nero can take on some of the larger threats like the continental Weapons and Bahamuts. 

Buuuut, I'm sure it goes without saying what happens when they go up against planet and star busters like Cloud (and by extension the rest of Avalanche) and Sephiroth, let alone some of the other games' characters like galaxy leveler Lightning.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that just about wraps things up. I am Hero's Shade, and thanks for giving this a read.

You did good, Capcom. Now go fix the fighting games.

You can start by bringing Darkstalkers back.