Perhaps you were expecting something a bit more horror-themed for a Halloween post, but it is said that on this night nothing is more feared than the Devil. According to myth, All Hallows Eve is when the human and spirit world are the closest, a night where the worlds of the living and the dead are merged. And tonight, I will introduce you to the Devil who has brought Hell itself to the world of the living.
Let us now Bury the Light, as I show you this Devil’s power.
Power.
Power cannot be declared as absolute if there are none to challenge it. To truly prove your might, it must be tested. Every hero, every villain in the vastness of fiction and beyond must be challenged, lest they never improve and remain stagnant. There is always a devil that must drive you, a demon that is your reason.
Thus: The rival. And it is arguable that none other than Vergil better suits the trope of the rival character, and Devil May Cry fans everywhere can attest to that statement.
I realize that this is a bold claim, but I wouldn’t say it if I weren’t able to back it up. It is well put in the video above, but essentially Dante and Vergil are the modern personification of the Red Oni/Blue Oni dichotomy in Japanese culture. One is more passionate, emotional and extraverted, where the other is logical, cold, and introverted. Neither is inherently good or evil as the Red Oni or Blue Oni can be personified in essentially any set of characters, and is as simple or as complex as it needs to be throughout fiction, yet this concept is explored and delved deep into throughout the entire DMC series, and is perhaps the best example we have in modern media.
Vergil IS motivation.
Background
Two millennia before the events of DMC1, the Dark Lord Mundus ruled over the human realm. He ruled unopposed until he released the Qliphoth, the great Hell Tree, whose roots fed on the humans as its trunk and branches spread downward into Hell, and allowing demons from the darkest depths to overrun humanity. One of Mundus’ own knights, Sparda, found this abhorrent even by a demon’s standards and opposed him, defeating him and sealing off every gate to Hell, allowing the humans to thrive in peace for many generations and the demons to fight freely amongst themselves.
Later, he fell in love with a human woman named Eva. Little is known about their life with one another, other than the fact they sired offspring.
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| Kid Dante and Vergil are so cute, oml |
Sparda entrusted his first-born son with the weapon Yamato, the key to the demon world that separates it from the living. But unbeknownst to them, Eva was having twins, two beings who were originally one. Sparda gave his second son Rebellion, a broadsword that could counter the Yamato just in case one stepped out of line to keep the two in check, in addition to carrying its own secret power that would not be fully realized until many years later. He also hid away the Force Edge, and gave his two sons one half of a matching amulet with their mother’s portrait inside, which when combined with the Force Edge will transform into the Devil Sword Sparda, a manifestation of his power either brother could call upon should the need arise.
Although being born on the same day, the two boys were named Vergil and Dante respectively, after the figures from the Divine Comedy, as Vergil being the elder of the brothers would be Dante’s guide through life. Where Dante was more athletic, outspoken and active, Vergil mostly stayed reserved and calm, practicing the arts and delving into literature, particularly taking a liking to poetry and classical music. He stayed mostly secluded to himself, taking the responsibility of keeping the human and demonic and human worlds separate very seriously, always studying and perfecting his arts and musical ability. Dante would often take his things and play with him, goading him into fighting back for them, with Dante too naive to understand how important it was for him and just wanted his brother to play with and spend time with him.
This rivalry never extended beyond childish innocence, until tragedy struck when the boys turned eight years old. While Vergil was playing outside, Mundus launched an attack on Sparda’s family in an act of revenge. Eva hid Dante away and frantically went looking for Vergil, but unfortunately perished when she was cornered by the demons. With Sparda mysteriously gone and nowhere to be seen, Vergil could only watch helplessly as his house burned down and presumably his entire family were killed.
This experience traumatized Vergil tremendously on both a psychological and emotional level. He blamed himself for the death of his family, knowing that if he were as strong as his father, he could have protected them. This would be the catalyst that drove Vergil’s insatiable lust for power, as he never wanted to feel weak and helpless ever again, and would never stop gaining more power at any cost. He was of course relieved to later find his brother alive, but what immediately stricken with heartbreak at the fact that Eva protected Dante instead, his stubbornness and inferiority complex leading him to believe she left him behind because he wasn’t good enough or as loved as Dante.
Dante on the other hand resented their father because he wasn’t there to protect them or their mother, thus rejecting his demonic heritage, a fact that Vergil finds abhorrent. In his own dark way not quite what his parents or name intended, he would guide Dante by attempting to force his ideology onto him and through battle drawing out the power within him, as it is the only way he knows how to communicate his feelings and bond with him.
Prior to the events of DMC3, Vergil traveled to Fortuna City, a religious commune that worshipped Sparda. He originally arrived seeking a form of power from the town’s Hellgates, but found a woman who was fascinated with him due to being Sparda’s son. Infatuation and idolization blossomed into love, and the two spent a period of time with one another. She was able to calm his zeal and lust for power, and Vergil saw himself becoming more peaceful and contained as he fought the demons there. He could not allow himself to be held back, so he bid her farewell and left the city, unknowingly leaving her pregnant with his child.
In his travels, he met a man named Arkham, who shared the same ambitions as Vergil, and had a plan to achieve it. He lead Vergil to the Temin-Ni-Gru, a tower that tunneled into Hell itself. It was there that one could undo the seal Sparda placed, step into Hell, and obtain the Force Edge as well as Sparda’s power. It was not a question of if Arkham would betray Vergil, but when, that much was obvious. But in his pride he believed he would get there first, and that Arkham was incapable of doing anything to harm him.
But Vergil didn’t account for Arkham’s craftiness. He lead Dante to the Temin-Ni-Gru, who at first stood no chance against Vergil. But as Vergil made his way to the chamber to perform the ritual to unseal the portal, Arkham disguised himself as Jester and lead Dante through the tower, allowing him to gain new weapons, abilities and powers as well as master his newly acquired Devil Trigger form. He left behind proverbial breadcrumbs that guided Dante to the chamber with Vergil. Arkham told Vergil that Sparda’s blood would be enough to undo the seal, leaving out a key detail so that Vergil would attempt to use more of Dante’s to break the seal, allowing them both to wear each other down and spill enough of each other’s blood so they’d be too weak to interfere with his next action. He also lead his daughter Lady into the chamber and used her virgin blood as the final missing piece, then taking the Force Edge for himself and unleashing Hell upon the world.
But being a human, Arkham couldn’t handle the power contained in his body and transformed into a hideous mass of flesh. Dante and Vergil teamed up and defeated him together, leaving behind the Force Edge and the two amulets. Vergil attempted to grab all three but Dante grabbed his half of the amulet. Vergil needed the other half of the amulet in addition to the Force Edge to obtain their father’s power, but Dante wasn’t going to give it over willingly. The two fought for the fate of humanity, as well as their own.
With Dante emerging the clear winner, Vergil allowed Dante to keep his half of the amulet and told him that the portal to the human world was closing soon if he wanted to leave, but he was staying because it was their father’s home.
In Hell, Vergil encountered the Demon Emperor Mundus himself and attempted to kill him. Vergil failed spectacularly, and Yamato was broken in half. As if the humiliating defeat at the hands of his own family’s killer wasn’t suffering enough, the demon lord possessed Vergil, making him his own dark knight and servant, Nelo Angelo, meaning literally “Black Angel” in Italian. Mundus then created Trish, a demon in the image of Dante’s mother, to lure him to Mallet Island, where Sparda sealed Mundus. Dante was then forced to kill Vergil (rather, he thought he was dead, at the time) and then used the two amulets to awaken Force Edge as the Devil Sword Sparda, then defeated Mundus.
Over a decade and a half later, Fortuna City grew and changed under its new religious leader, Sanctus. Under his mandate, harmless studies of demonology and theology turned into outright obsession and lust for power. He rose knights in his service, he subjected themselves to demonic energies becoming demons disguised as angels. He called them the Order of the Sword. The Order collected demonic artifacts, such as fragments from Nelo Angelo’s armor and body, forming the Bianco and Alto Angelos, possessed armor powered by fragments of Vergil’s essence. They also recovered the halves of Yamato, later found and restored by the youngest of their members, Nero. It appeared that he had his own latent demonic power without undergoing their “Ascension” ceremonies.
Nero later met up with Dante, and the two took down the Order together, defeating demons and destroying the Hellgates along the way. Dante let Nero keep Yamato after he knew he could trust him with it and knew it was in good hands. Dante then returned to his demon-hunting business and all was peaceful for a while.
Unbeknownst to everyone including the Order and Dante, Vergil was still alive. After being defeated over a decade ago as Nelo Angelo and recovering from his corruption, in addition to all the damage he took in the past, his regenerative abilities finally began reaching its limit, though Vergil held on through sheer force of will, as he was focused on a singular mission. He had one option left to stay alive, but he needed the Yamato to do it. Some time after DMC4, Vergil could sense that Yamato had been taken. He tracked its energy to the source and encountered Nero, taking his arm as it housed Yamato, reclaiming it as his own. He then used Yamato’s innate ability to separate in order to remove the humanity from his body, soul, and mind. He rejected all of his former trauma and memories and placed them into the new human being, no longer held back by anything, he was power absolute.
Vergil’s inner conflict was now unleashed externally for the rest of the world to share his suffering. Technically, the two new beings born from the split had no name, since even though they were born from Vergil, they were separate. His human side called himself V, and with the trace amounts of demonic blood left in his veins coupled with the demonic familiars spawned by Vergil’s mind, he delayed the demon’s invasion of the human realm for a few months before he sought out the help of the others. The new human took Vergil’s book, the Complete Works of William Blake, because it was the only thing Vergil left behind in their old home, and called himself V after the initial that was engraved on the front cover.
V had fully realized the gravity of what Vergil had done when this demon released the Qliphoth, the same tree their own parents’ killer released millennia ago. He named the demon Urizen when he explained to Dante “this demon is your reason”, which is also a muti-layered reference to William Blake’s poems. One might scoff at the notion that these silly character action games can actually have such depth to them, but the DMC series has always been full of references to classic literature and poetry, particularly epic poetry. In Blake’s Works, “The name Urizen comes from the English poet William Blake's mythology. Urizen is a godlike being and the embodiment of conventional reason and law. Urizen never actually uses the name himself: rather, it is assigned to him by V, reflecting the latter's fondness for Blake's poetry, with the demonic half of Vergil embodying the literal Urizen as a being of godlike strength and supreme logic, divorced entirely from human consciousness and compassion, who believes in power over all else. Urizen's name is derived from the words "Your reason", which is used by V himself to describe the demon to Dante in the flashback shown in Mission 9. It is also based on the Greek word meaning "to limit", which ironically reflects Urizen, who was the result of Vergil's attempt to grow stronger through becoming a full demon, but had his potential limited without his humanity alongside it.” The Poison Tree, another poem by William Blake, is also referenced and mirrors the Qliphoth, it tells a cautionary story of how anger, if left to fester and grow, can cause misery to oneself and others.
The Qliphoth grew as its roots fed on the blood of humanity, as Urizen connected himself to the roots feeding it directly into himself. V, Dante, Nero, Lady and Trish all went to the Qliphoth to face off against Urizen but failed miserably. Dante was knocked out and Lady and Trish were captured and drained to power Urizen. V and Nero held off what they could of the invasion as the roots spread for a month. It wasn’t until Dante’s unconscious body was located and he unlocked the true power of the Rebellion that Urizen could be challenged. Urizen retreated after detaching from the roots, traveling to the Qliphoth’s peak to wait for the remaining blood to form a richly dense fruit. Dante tracked him down and Urizen ate the fruit, with Dante yet again defeating him. V approached his weakened body and merged with him, recreating a newly formed Vergil, with all the memories and shared experiences of both of his counterparts. He moved to the upper roots of the Qliphoth, waiting for Dante to rest and recuperate before challenging him again for one last battle, which depending on the outcome would decide his atonement. Dante revealed that Vergil was his father, and that Dante didn’t want him involved because killing was a burden he didn’t want him to bear. The two nearly killed each other, until Nero, who was raised in a foster home and believed that family was the most important thing, refused either of them to die and prevented their final attack by awakening his Devil Trigger. Nero defeated Vergil and convinced him to help him stop the demons. Nero being the victor, Vergil agreed to his request. He went to Hell to sever the Qliphoth from the human world, but he would be trapped in Hell. Dante elected to go with him, not only to make sure he doesn’t try anything, but also so he wouldn’t suffer alone again like the first time he left him in Hell. The two now fight forever in Hell as Nero protects the human world.
Arsenal
Yamato
A legendary sword so powerful it can rend the fabric of space and time between dimensions. It can be used to cut open portals between the human and demon worlds. Its wielder can also 'store' the kinetic energy created by its slashes within enemies or virtually anywhere in space, then release it at any given time. Usually this is done by sheathing the blade after attacks are performed, though this is mostly done for visual flair as Vergil can choose for his opponents to be affected by his attacks at any time.
Beowulf
A pair of combat boots and gauntlets obtained after Vergil killed the demon of the same name. The weapons emit an angelic light that is especially effective against demons and dark-based enemies.
Force Edge
A weapon that I believe shouldn't be included in Vergil's arsenal in vs matches, as he hasn't used it in 20+ years and it since has turned into the Devil Sword Sparda and combined with Rebellion to form the Dante sword. However, he does have it in the Marvel vs Capcom games and Project X Zone as his weapons he is portrayed with outside the series, so it's here just for completion's sake.
Force Edge can create long distance slashes and sword beams similar to Rebellion and Yamato, and Vergil can mimic all of Dante's moves with it, in addition to dual-wielding it with Yamato. When combined with Dante and Vergil's amulets, it becomes the Devil Sword Sparda, which allows the user to manifest Sparda’s power. Though given both Dante and Vergil have long since surpassed him, it's pretty much tertiary at this point.
Mirage Edge
It seems not even bloggers are safe from the Death Battle curse, as in the recently released DMC5 DLC gameplay trailers for Vergil, he can now use a large Summoned Sword (see abilities), essentially a psychic projection of the lost Force Edge that he can use to replicate the moveset he had with it in DMC3. He can also use it to create frozen cuts in the space around him that damage enemies as they pass through them.
Abilities
Superhuman Physicality and Survivability
Dante and Vergil can stay in peak physical condition regardless of diet or other health choices, and are unaffected by extreme temperatures. Dante in DMC5 survived isolated in a comatose state with no form of sustenance for over 3 months, and likely had to survive longer in Hell between DMC2 and 4.
Superhuman Senses
The Sons of Sparda have heightened sight, hearing, and olfactory senses, in addition to being able to sense energy metaphysically, including energy specific to certain beings to tell who they are and how close they are to them.
Energy Projection/Tactile Telekinesis
The brothers can use their demonic energy to alter the physical
properties of objects they touch or pass their energy through. Dante prior to
DMC3 was unintentionally breaking all his guns by projecting his energy through
them without realizing until he had Ebony and Ivory custom made to withstand
it. He can also alter probability, the durability of objects, and their
trajectory to an extent, evident as he can flip a pool table, shoot the cue ball, and cause all the other balls to ricochet
off one another to kill enemies in the room. Likewise, Vergil can also control
objects in a similar fashion, mainly through the weapons he wields. Most
notably, with a move called Round Trip, he can telekinetically control his weapons to float through the
air and attack enemies. Vergil himself can also cut bullets from the air as if they were sushi, and fling the pieces back at the same speed and energy they were fired.
Regeneration
Vergil has super-regenerative abilities thanks to his demonic heritage. He can shrug off being impaled, and he can heal fast enough to regen as Dante’s swords pass through his body. He regenerated from his body exploding in DMC1, though that seems to be the limit of his regen as he was left in a weakened state.
Teleportation
Sort of self-explanatory. Vergil has the ability to teleport.
Summoned Swords
Psychic projections of Vergil's energy that function as his primary projectile attack. Can be summoned effectively anywhere, and can be used to give an extra layer of defenses around himself or surround his enemy with them.
Dimension Cut
Vergil seemingly dematerializes and the battlefield is filled with countless rapid slashes.
Judgment Cut
Vergil releases pockets of energy containing stored cuts created from Yamato. Anyone touched by these is damaged with all the cuts within the sphere.
Judgment Cut End
Vergil creates a field of distorted time-space around him with the energy of Yamato. Anyone caught within this field is effectively frozen in time. Vergil performs an untraceable rapid flurry of cuts, and the victims caught within are inflicted by all cuts at once when time resumes.
Devil Trigger
Vergil embraces his demonic heritage and releases his pure demon form. In DT, Vergil has increased speed, strength, durability, gains modifications and amplification to all his weapons and attacks, and his healing is accelerated. DMC5 showcases that DT can spontaneously regrow lost limbs.
Sin Devil Trigger
The fully realized potential of both brother's respective power, far surpassing their own father in strength. In Sin Devil Trigger, they gain unparalleled destructive attack power as well as new abilities in addition to enhanced energy projection and time-space manipulation, able to freeze and slow time and open portals in enemies. He also gains wings and the ability to fly.
Doppelganger
An ability Vergil gained by taking Nero's demonic arm. Vergil can create psionically-projected copies of himself equal to his own power.
Psychic Projections
Vergil can use Yamato to split into V and Urizen, the former of which can summon and control demonic familiars that are manifestations of Vergil's grief and trauma. They are made of a viscous substance and can be manipulated and formed into any shape. Vergil can then willingly merge them back into himself.
Vergil can also use the same viscous material to create constructs in his base form.
Hax Resistance
Both brothers have showcased resistance against life drain and soul hax, in addition to possession and mind control. Vergil was once mind controlled by Mundus, although this was when he was much weaker in terms of continuity and Mundus was unable to do the same against DMC1 Dante, suggesting that currently Vergil wouldn't be as affected by it, if at all.
Willpower
Held himself together despite his body literally falling apart through the time between DMC1 and 5 through sheer force of will and perseverance.
Feats and Scaling
https://youtu.be/BB6XPMdzzpY?t=222
(3:42)
Vergil effortlessly cuts bullets out of the air. Must exceed supersonic speeds as most bullets travel around Mach 2.
https://youtu.be/0oE0xINtcfM?t=35
(0:38)
Vergil can deflect missiles that are fired at him at close range. Missiles irl travel anywhere between Mach 3-15.
Vergil one-shots the demon Beowulf and proceeds to kick his corpse several feet into the air and kick him in half.
Although perhaps unquantifiable, Vergil life drains countless people and allows the Qliphoth to grow up into the upper troposphere from their blood and life energy.
https://youtu.be/ZSi5_pxauG0?t=204
After Dante defeats Mundus, Mallet Island is destroyed. Vergil survives this despite being blown up previously.
https://shadesblogs.blogspot.com/2019/03/devil-may-cry-verse-analysis.html
Vergil and Dante sever the Qliphoth, a feat capping out at about 16 Megatons. (Follow link for full calc)
https://devilmaycry.fandom.com/wiki/Urizen
According to background in-game text, Urizen after eating the Qliphoth Fruit was strong enough to “shake the foundations of the world”.
Scaling
It stands to reason that because Dante and Vergil are twins and have most of the same abilities, they should be able to perform the same or similar feats. That being said, I should plainly lay down the terminology I’m going to be using here.
DMC3 is a prequel. In the beginning of DMC3, Dante has obvious superhuman showings, yet Vergil is clearly far stronger. In the first fight, Dante loses. In the second fight, it’s a stalemate. And finally, the third fight Dante wins. If I say something like “Post-DMC3” or “Pre-DMC3”, this is what I’m referring to. DMC1 takes place after this, where Vergil becomes Nelo Angelo and stalemates Dante until being defeated by him. He then returns years later in DMC5 as Urizen and one-shots Dante until he returns with Sin Devil Trigger and beats him back. Urizen then eats the Qliphoth fruit and gains a tremendous power boost but is still defeated. Then V arrives and he reforms into Vergil, at this point he is equal to Dante. The terms I will use are “Pre-Qliphoth” and “Post-Qliphoth Fruit Vergil”.
Essentially, the scaling goes like this:
Pre-DMC3 Dante<Pre-DMC3 Vergil<DMC3 Vergil<Post-DMC3 Dante<DMC1 Vergil (Nelo Angelo)<DMC1 Dante<DMC2 Dante<DMC4 Dante< Pre-Qliphoth Vergil (Urizen)<Post-Qliphoth Urizen<Sin Devil Trigger Dante=DMC5 Devil Trigger Nero=Post-Qliphoth Vergil/Sin Devil Trigger Vergil
Hopefully that’s not too complicated to follow. That said…
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bOC-hsRjip0/hqdefault.jpg
Morrison remarks how easily lower tier characters like Lady can dodge bullets.
Dante considers Lady and Trish the "most badass women in the world" and he only knows one other guy that can defeat them (in this context, that guy being Vergil).
There are multiple showings of DMC characters reacting to lightning, including DMC4 Dante reacting to the demon Blitz who can manifest and travel as natural cloud-to-ground lightning, which can exceed speeds of Mach 300,000. Vergil can also block Dante’s lightning-based attacks in DMC1.
DMC4 Nero matches physical strength with gigantic MCB-town level demons and tosses them around.
https://www.outskirtsbattledomewiki.com/index.php/14-fiction-profiles/909-devil-may-cry
DMC4 demons such as Echidna and Baal can manipulate the weather of forests and Fortuna Castle, which the OBD Wiki considers about Town level.
With that in mind, Vergil tosses Nero, ripping off his arm in the process, despite his body degrading and being in a weakened state.
Abigail in the DMC anime causes continental could dispersal and illumination. Post-DMC1 Dante defeats him by going Devil Trigger.
Urizen and Post-Qliphoth Vergil are portrayed as leaps and bounds ahead of this feat, though by an unspecified amount.
The Luce, one of Sin Devil Trigger Dante's moves are stated to be able to "raze the Earth".
Overview
+Continental DC and Dura, possibly higher
+High end Massively Hypersonic, near sub-relativistic
+Teleportation
+Regen
+Can open portals
+Space-time hax
+Doppelganger, psychic projections, and splitting himself can essentially make it a 6 on 1 fight against his opponent
+Can TK his weapons
+Beowulf super effective against dark types
+Plenty of long range and melee options
+Has amazing theme music in every game he appears in
-It is possible for his opponent to kill V and his familiars if he splits
-Vergil can be tricked, but only with enough prep, and it’s unlikely he’d fall for the same tactics Arkham employed
-Has been possessed/mind controlled before, but has likely built up his resistance to it
-His healing can be overtaxed if fighting an opponent who can compete with him in a war of attrition
-Still is only playable in Special Edition rereleases
-The hot garbage that was his characterization in the reboot
Suggested Opponents
Sesshomaru
Sesh also embodies the Blue Oni archetype, perhaps more literally than Vergil. Prior to DMC5, this was my most wanted match for Vergil and was pretty even. Now, I’m not so sure since apparently his best feat is a small mountain bust and that has no business measuring up to a continental, potentially multi-continental opponent.
Doomguy
I just can’t stop putting this guy in fight suggestions, can I? He’s also a continental Dark Slayer in his own right, with plenty of ranged options and and melee weapons that can deal with Vergil’s. Doomguy’s ability to absorb demon blood is an interesting factor to look into, and he can definitely make Vergil bleed.
Sasuke Uchiha
Honestly not my preferred pick. Embodies the Blue Oni archetype in
his series and the fight is relatively even, with Saucy having a small DC/Dura
advantage with Vergil having plenty of hax to deal with him. It is also suggested that another opponent for Vergil could be his brother, Itachi.
Darth Vader
Probably the best opponent for Vergil. Thematically, They are both powerful entities warped into Black Knights by the main antagonist, only to be later defeated and redeemed by their sons. In terms of the matchup, it honestly depends whether you consider planet level scaling from KotoR and the EU Clone Wars comics as legit (as well as how literally you take the "Raze the Earth" in-game text from the DMC5 menu). Without it, it’s even in terms of stats and there’s plenty of hax at play for the two to deal with one another. With it, Vader stomps.
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Well, that just about does it for this one. If this Halloween Special wasn’t spooky enough for you, perhaps the next VS blog will suit your tastes…
VS
In the meantime, I am Hero’s Shade and I’ll see you all next time!
