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Dante

"Heh, a sword? Time to go to work, guys!"

"Ever since I was a child, I knew I had powers. There's demonic blood in me."

The halfbreed son of the legendary dark knight Sparda (a powerful demon soldier), and Eva, his human mother. After losing his mother to demons when he was a child, Dante took it upon himself to search for the ones responsible for her death and make them pay. He becomes a "demon slayer" and runs his own devil-hunting business called Devil May Cry. He is never without his custom handguns Ebony and Ivory, and the swords Rebellion and Force Edge, mementos received from his father. Being one-half demon, Dante is able to utilize his demonic blood in the form of incredible strength and dexterity, along with the ability to morph into a demon form that grants him increased power and healing factor. He often displays a cocky attitude, but deep down, he is quite compassionate and devoted to fight for the good of humanity. He is the younger twin brother of Vergil.

• Abel
• The Ace: Moreso in Devil May Cry 4, where it would appear that his job is to upstage Nero at every turn. Not to mention kill the bosses Nero couldn't fully eradicate, destroy the Hellgates, and save his life. You could have argue that, despite being The Hero, he exhibits shades of this throughout the entire series.
• Always Identical Twins: Him and Vergil.
• Ancestral Weapon: His sword Rebellion is suggested to be another memento from Sparda.
• Angels Pose: Pulls this alongside Trish and Lady at the end of Devil May Cry 4.
• Angsty Surviving Twin: Dante is this after both of Vergil's deaths. The first time he simply denies it, and the second time it is not dwelled on, but the sorrow on his face as he picks up Vergil's amulet, and his reminiscing of one of their birthdays makes this apparent.
• Anti-Hero: In typical fashion, he's all over the place. In Devil May Cry 3, he's Type III and gradually shifts into Type II by endgame. This sticks for Devil May Cry 1. In the anime and Devil May Cry 4, however, he goes straight back towards Type III. By the time of Devil May Cry 2, Dante's back at Type II.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With both Lady and Vergil in Devil May Cry 3.
• Badass:
  • Took a Level in Badass: By the end of Devil May Cry 2, the Physical God True Final Boss is little more than a nuisance to Dante. In his non-DT'ed form.
• Badass Biker
• Badass Crew: With Trish and Lady.
• Badass Longcoat
• BFS
• Blinding Bangs: Depending on the game.
• Blood Knight: Heroic example: Dante really enjoys his job as a Demon Slayer.

Dante: "Well bring it on! I love this! This is what I live for! I'm absolutely crazy about it!" (cue Cheshire Cat Grin)

• Bottomless Magazines: According to the manual for the first game, Dante's demonic powers actually create them.
• Bring My Red Jacket: Red longcoat in every game, check. Constantly impaled, check.
• Butt Monkey: Surprisingly, he's shown to be this in the anime thanks to his financial troubles. Patty even quips that Dante has to be the unluckiest guy she's ever met.
• Calling Your Attacks: Subverted.
• The Cameo:
  • Dante (in his Devil May Cry 2 form) makes an appearance in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (or to be specific, the Maniax version that became the US and PAL release) as a boss encounter (twice) and an optional party member (in return, the series' demon artist Kazuma Kaneko designed the DT forms for Dante and Vergil in Devil May Cry 3).
  • He later is playable as a Secret Character in the PS2 ports of Viewtiful Joe.
  • He also has a cameo in Jedah Dohma's ending in Capcom Fighting Jam/Evolution.
  • Word of God (with a side dish of Executive Meddling) states that the amount of times he's appeared outside of his native series is the reason that he's not in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Although he is in Marvel vs. Capcom 3!
• Catch Phrase:
  • "Jackpot!" It sees its fair share of usage by Vergil and Nero as well.
  • "Devils never cry" seems to be one as well, seeing as he's said those words to Trish, Lucia and Lady near or at the climax of the first three games (in the first two instances, he was trying to comfort Trish and Lucia, while the latter was Dante trying to deny the pain he felt when he believed Vergil to be dead).
• Character Development: Though his main persona is the same in each game, chronologically he matures quite a bit. Witness his change from thrill seeking (Devil May Cry 3) to guilt ridden (Devil May Cry 1) to cool-headed (Devil May Cry 4). Also, something happened between Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 2 to turn him from the wisecracking, flamboyant figure-of-fun of Devil May Cry 3, Devil May Cry 1 and Devil May Cry 4 into a stoic Person of Mass Destruction with The Quiet One tendencies. Thankfully, he never loses his Crazy Awesome demon-hunting style, and still abides by the Rule of Cool.
• Character Exaggeration: Suffers from it in the anime. The Rule of Cool that he adheres by in the games seems to have become the equivalent of air for him in The Animated Series, to the point of Destructive Savior tendencies.
  • Flanderization: Ditto. And he's not the only one either. Take a good look at Trish's impulsive behavior or Lady bugging Dante for needing to repay his debt, for starters.
• Characterization Marches On: How Dante, Trish and Lady were portrayed in The Animated Series stuck for Devil May Cry 4.
• Chekhov's Gun: He comes across a few, but the best examples would most likely be his half of the Perfect Amulet (in both Devil May Cry 1 and Devil May Cry 3) and his lucky coin (actually a trick coin) in Devil May Cry 2, which is later used to thwart the Big Bad's plan.
• Chick Magnet: While he does play the role of Handsome Lech towards Lady at first, every single female lead of the first three games became a viable Love Interests for him towards endgame, Unresolved Sexual Tension and everything. It doesn't hurt that he has the air of The Charmer about him. In the case of Trish and Lady, the romantic tension was dialed back for their joint-reappearance in Devil May Cry 4. Here, it's obvious that Dante sees his ladyfriends at least as True Companions: any non-platonic feelings are negated by Dante's lack of (or suppression of) perverted qualities. As for Lucia, canonically speaking, she's the last girl Dante meets (Trish's appearance in Devil May Cry 2 is non-canon, and Lady hadn't been conceptualized at that point), so the matter of Dante's love life could take one of several different directions.
• The Collector of the Strange: Has several demon skulls in his office as well as various weapons mounted on his wall.
• Cool Guns: Ebony and Ivory.
• Cool Sword: Rebellion, which covers...
  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: According to Word of God, it can slice through anything in the physical plane.
  • Audible Sharpness
  • Blade Across the Shoulder
  • Clean Cut: Not as impressive as the Yamato, but still.
  • Deadly Lunge: Stinger, which doubles as Sprint Shoes.
  • Evil Weapon: If the grip's anything to go by...
  • Heroes Prefer Swords
  • Meaningful Name: In contrast to Vergil's Yamato, it could refer to the Meiji Period, where the Japanese began to modernize like the Western world. Now look at Dante's clothing style and weapon preferences. It also works in contrast to Vergil's personality as well: where he adheres to the demonic "power is everything" style, Dante rebels against it and chooses humanity.
  • Razor Wind/Sword Beam: Drive, which involves Dante using a Reverse Grip while charging up the move.
  • Spam Attack: Million Stab.
  • Spin Attack: Prop Shredder.
  • Sword Drag: Does this a few times with Rebellion while charging at Vergil.
  • Sword Sparks: While dueling with Vergil.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Uses his demonic powers for the good of mankind.
• Desperation Attack: His Devil Trigger Majin Form (Desperation/Desperate Devil Trigger or DDT for short) in Devil May Cry 2. When Dante's health is critical, he can transform into a towering, invincible behemoth (complete with two blades that protrude out of his arms, fireballs, and a chargeable light-dark laser beam) and mow down his enemies with the greatest of ease. This includes the Final Boss.
• Different As Night and Day: With Vergil, natch.
• Discontinuity Nod:
  • The Animated Series uses Dante's alias of "Tony Redgrave" (the same name inscribed on his guns) from the (now) non-canon novelization. Those same engravings on Ebony and Ivory contain an inscription that reads "By .45 Art Warks". In another nod to the novel, .45 Art Works is a gunshop owned by a female proprietor named Nell Goldstein (who has a tendency to misspell the name of her shop as ".45 Art Warks"). Goldstein apparently helped "Tony" construct Ebony and Ivory, as well as Sparda's Luce and Ombra (which bear the same engraving).
  • In the PS2 port of Viewtiful Joe, Dante makes a Guest Fighter appearance as a Secret Character. In his story, Alastor is revealed to be the spirit of the eponymous sword Dante picked up in Devil May Cry 1. Among other things, Alastor is seething that Dante that didn't bring him along to "Somewhere Island" (Dumary Island). Dante protests, "I don't remember that!". Seeing as the series was also originally helmed by Hideki Kamiya, the man responsible for the original game, this could also be a Take That.
    • His change in characterization for Devil May Cry 2 was handwaved when Dante (who is only clad in a speedo when not transformed) asks if Enzo stole his clothes again, suggesting that it wasn't even Dante you were playing as. Again, most likely another Take That from Kamiya.
  • See Trademark Favorite Food below.
• Double Entendre: His interaction with Nevan and his acquisition of Lucifer. Both are cases of Does This Remind You of Anything? and the latter is something of a Badass Creed.
• Fakin' MacGuffin: How he plays Arius for a chump in Devil May Cry 2. All according to plan.

Dante: "A false coin, for a false god."

• Finger-Twitching Revival:
  • The end result of "acquiring" Alastor.
  • Subverted in Devil May Cry 3. You see his fingers twitch, and Vergil stabs him again without missing a beat.
• Fingerless Gloves: Traditional fingerless gloves in Devil May Cry 3, sans-thumb-and-index-finger type in Devil May Cry 4.
• Firing One-Handed: Dude can fire shotguns and more supernaturally-empowered weapons with one hand. Must be that demon blood in him.
• Gangsta Style: How Dante uses Ebony and Ivory.
• Genre Savvy: Dante showed some really strong hints of this in Devil May Cry 4 (and considering all the crap he's been through up to then, this is understandable). Said hints include outright breaking an extremely irritating puzzle, finishing off bosses to avoid rematches, and perhaps the best known example is crashing into the Order of the Sword's church and immediately shooting the Big Bad.
  • Also in Devil May Cry 2, where he's much less playful towards his opponents (including a Shut UP, Hannibal towards Trismagia) and plays that game's Big Bad with a Batman Gambit before shooting him out of a building.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Seriously.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck: The infamous "Flock off, featherface!" line from the first game. Doubles as an intentional pun, considering that Griffon was a bird. Later games and the anime avert this, and Nero is probably the most foul-mouthed character in the series.
• Guns Akimbo:
  • Dual-Wielding
  • Gun Fu: While not the one most characteristic of it (that would be Lady), like for everything, he's the best.
  • Gun Twirling
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Three words: Rule of Cool.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Dante is 1/2 demon, 1/2 human.
• Heads or Tails: Picks up this quirk in the second installment for unexplained reasons, using his coin to determine whether or not he'll help Lucia and Matier, most notably when deciding who between him and Lucia will go into Demon World and slay the recently-revived devil king Argosax and most likely be trapped there for eternity. Lucia notices in the epilogue that it's a trick coin and the coin itself later comes in handy when Dante switches his own lucky coin with the Arcana Medaglia to fool Arius near the end of the game. Dante retains this trait during his guest appearance in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Savvy players can actually recruit Dante for only one Macca if they know about the trick coin.
• The Hero
• Hero Antagonist: For the first half of Devil May Cry 4.
• Heroic Neutral: At the start of Devil May Cry 3.
• Hidden Depths: Dante happens to be a music aficionado. His office contains a drum set (complete with a guitar in Devil May Cry 3) and an antique jukebox, and Dante is shown to be a very accomplished musician when he obtains Nevan in Devil May Cry 3. Dante himself lampshades this in the preview to the episode "Rock Queen" from the anime, where he notes that you wouldn't expect a guy like him to understand the deeper messages conveyed through music.
• Hired Guns: Although people like he, Trish and Lady happen to be a different sort of mercenary breed.
• Hunter of His Own Kind
• Hyperspace Arsenal
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: This happens a lot in the series.
  • Crucified Hero Shot: So does this.
• Implacable Man: Cutscenes only, but Dante himself is a rare protagonist example. The opening mission of Devil May Cry 3 has Dante impaled by no less than four different scythes, only to calmly walk it off, pulling the blades out of his body and tossing them around the room, destroying his attackers.
• I Shall Taunt You: He's an expert on this!
• It Was a Gift: Rebellion was a memento from Sparda. There's also his half of the Perfect Amulet, given to him by Eva on his birthday.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Kamehame Hadoken: While in his Physical God form, Majin Devil Trigger, Dante has a massive laser beam as one of his special attacks, taking this trope to heart the attack can One-Hit Kill everything, bosses that can actually be hit by it included.
• Large Ham: But we love him like that! Though particularly here.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: In the first novel. Thoroughly justified (it's really denial all along) and an aversion of You Fail Psychology Forever.
• The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort: In cutscenes, at least. The rest of the time...
• Let's Get Dangerous: His default face is usually a Cheshire Cat Grin, or at least some kind of cocky smirk. The moment he loses it, that is your cue to run (and pray that he's merely been overcome by boredom) because Dante is now deadly serious.
  • In the fourth game, you fight him as Nero in a tutorial fight. After being impaled by his own sword again, he admits to Underestimating Badassery Nero. The next time they fight, he doesn't hold anything back, and many players consider him to be That One Boss.
  • In Devil May Cry 3, once Dante realizes what he should really be fighting for, just about everyone, from Lady to Vergil, learns the hard way that Dante is not one to be trifled with. And who could forget that Curb Stomp Battle against Mundus in the first game?
• Manly Tears:
  • At the end of Devil May Cry 3. Of course, "It's just the rain" because "Devils never cry."
  • He also sheds a few tears when he believes Trish to be dead.
• Mirror Boss: Plays this role to Nero. He's a Warmup Boss in the tutorial. The second time around, many see him as That One Boss.
• Mr. Fanservice
• The Musketeer: A Gunslinger and Swordmaster.
• Named Weapons
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast
• Never Be Hurt Again: The prequel manga for Devil May Cry 3 suggests that this might be what drove him to become powerful.
• The Nose Knows: He can smell Dagon from a mile away, but intentionally screws around with him and pretends to fall for his tricks to humor himself.

Dante: "You can hide that body. But that smell, woo!"

• Oedipus Complex: Subverted in a weird way only befitting of the series. In Devil May Cry 3, Dante outright denies that he has a father due to his hatred of his demonic lineage (one of the many factors leading to his mother's death). However, unlike Vergil, he never tried to match or outdo his father. By the end of the game, he has a newfound respect for Sparda which can be seen in brief flashes in later games, namely Devil May Cry 2 and Devil May Cry 4. On the mother angle of things, Dante appears to be drawn to Trish solely on the basis of her resemblance to his departed mother, but nothing comes to pass. Later games scaled down the romantic context, and Dante seems to be slightly disturbed by Trish's appearance in The Animated Series.
• Older and Wiser: The most logical way to justify his characterization in Devil May Cry 2. Given the way it keeps getting pushed back in the timeline, it's possible that it takes place a long time in the future. Either way, Dante's quieter, more professional, and more composed, although no less The Trickster. He's also at the height of badassitude.
• One-Man Army
• Orphan's Plot Trinket: His half of the Perfect Amulet.
• Painful Transformation: His (chronologically) first Devil Trigger, judging by his howling.
• Papa Wolf: As a babysitter for Patty.
• Parental Abandonment: Although it's moreso implied than outright stated, his childhood took a turn for the worse after his eighth birthday. The disappearance of his father and death of his mother also doubles as the beginning of the major schism between Dante and Vergil.
• Patrick Stewart Speech: Gives one to Agnus in Devil May Cry 4, and again to Sid in The Animated Series.
• Patronymic: Son of Sparda, which could also work as a Badass Nickname.
• Perfect Play AI: Yep, and it hurts.
• Perma-Stubble: Has it in Devil May Cry 4.
• Physical God: It's implied that Dante has the potential to surpass his father (who also qualifies for this trope). By Devil May Cry 4, he can take a blow from The Savior and still be relatively unscratched. By Devil May Cry 2, he slaughters Argosax the Chaos, King of the Demon World, and the Despair Embodied (its Bishonen Line of a One-Winged Angel) with little visible effort. And that's when he's in his normal form. Devil Trigger (Majin Form), anyone?
• Possession Implies Mastery: If he picks up a weapon (no matter how cool), he will instantly know how to use it (complete with a flashy demonstration), ranging from being Musical Assassin with Nevan to becoming an expert martial artist with Ifrit, Beowulf and Gilgamesh to deftly using his own brother's Yamato. This could be justified since his Devil Arms are actually demons subjugated to his will.
• Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In the first game, having witnessed the death of Trish at the hands of Mundus, Dante's eyes glow red as he gains a Battle Aura. In a rare break from his wisecracking personality, he delivers both a Death Glare and Shut UP, Hannibal. His Sparda Devil Trigger then activates. Mundus gets trounced. They're also present on the cover to Devil May Cry 2, but that's about it.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: To both Vergil and Nero's Blue Oni. Nero is a bit of a oddball in this regard (see his entry), but Dante gets progressively more Red when alone in Devil May Cry 4.
• Refuge in Audacity: Standard operating procedure. For instance: need to kill the leader of an order of holy knights with demonic powers? Show up during one of the guy's sermons and cap him in the face.
• Reuben Langdon: Ink Suit Actor in Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4, providing voice and Motion Capture in both games, voice in the anime and Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
• Sarcastic Clapping: Does this after seeing Sanctus unleash The Savior after Agnus opens the Hellgate to Demon World.
• Shirtless Scene: The beginning of Devil May Cry 3. You can unlock that outfit (or lack thereof) upon beating the game.
• Shout-Out: His personality is based off of the titular character of Space Adventure Cobra.
• Show, Don't Tell: In contrast with the Oedipus Complex example above, the manga of Devil May Cry 3 states that he "longs to step out of his father's shadow," and Devil May Cry 4 pretty much says that he's surpassed Sparda in terms of power. Again, he isn't shown actually trying to match or outdo his father, so there's a problem with Capcom's writing.
• Shut UP, Hannibal:
  • At least two; one to Mundus at the end of the first game, and another to Arius in Devil May Cry 2 after your second fight with him. The second case is more flashy, as it was a Shut UP, Hannibal performed with bullets.
  • Actually, three, with another case from Devil May Cry 2.

Trismagia: "The Son of Sparda. You must repent your sins!" Dante: "Don't speak, just die!"

• Sibling Yin-Yang: Yang to Vergil's Yin.
• Sins of Our Fathers: This happens to him often enough that he lampshades the trope in Devil May Cry 3.
• Smug Super: In Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4 (in Devil May Cry 1 and Devil May Cry 2, not so much). Especially in the latter, where he will lesson Nero, play the three big demons of the game while clearly holding back, and never seem the least bit shaken by the chaos occurring.
• The Stoic: Dante is eerily Vergil-like in Devil May Cry 2. One of many possible reasons behind the Fan Nickname of Duntee.
• Teased with Awesome: Sparda Devil Trigger in Devil May Cry 1, Majin Devil Trigger in Devil May Cry 2 since the conditions to trigger it are Awesome but Impractical and this DT depletes very quickly, to top it off there's no Infinite DT unlockable for this game; also his obtaining of Lucifer and Pandora (right before switching back to Nero) in Devil May Cry 4. At least you have New Game+ and Bloody Palace in the case of the latter...
• Tell Me About My Father: Averted. Dante couldn't care less about the fables revolving around his father (Lady apparently knows more about the legend of Sparda in Devil May Cry 3 than Dante does). In Devil May Cry 2, when Matier bribes him with a tale about Sparda as payment for his help, Dante passes up on the offer, coming to the conclusion that it parallels his own quest in the game.
• Theme Naming: Long story short, Dante, Trish, Vergil, Lucia and Lady are named after characters from Dante Aligheri's The Divine Comedy. And that's just the tip of the iceburg.
• Theme Twin Naming: With Vergil, of course.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Sword Pierce and Round Trip.
• Time to Unlock More True Potential: Majin Devil Trigger. Nothing in the series so far dared to claim someone or something stronger than Sparda (and Mundus); when Dante attained his father's form, it seemed that he reached the top of his game, then Dante apparently impersonated Goku and got a more powerful form offscreen.
• Too Many Belts: In the first game and The Animated Series.
• Toshiyuki Morikawa: Seiyuu for the anime. This is notable for being the first time that Dante is voiced in Japanese.
  • Morikawa reprises his tenure as Dante's Japanese voice in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
• Touched by Vorlons: The bio for Dante's Majin Devil Trigger states that he attained this form by the Sparda's sword influence on his natural born demon energy, both powers fused in Dante's body triggering his ascension into a being far more powerful than the sword's original wielder; coincidentally, it cemented a better reason for Dante never needing the sword again and leaving it permanently in Trish's hands.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Pizza! As well as strawberry sundaes in the anime (a Discontinuity Nod to a prequel novel meant to be the groundwork for the series, until Devil May Cry 3 kicked it out of canon).
• Trash Talk
• Trickster Mentor: To a small degree, he's like this towards Nero. It starts developing into a Big Brother Mentor complex near endgame.
• "Wake-Up Call" Boss: After beating Son of Sparda mode in Devil May Cry 4, some may step into Dante Must Die mode full of confidence since the first fight isn't that hard. If they are lucky, they will be woken up by Pandora's laser beam two seconds into the fight and die before knowing what's happening. Ouch.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy
• Who You Gonna Call?: Ghostbusters? All jokes aside, this is the reasoning behind Devil May Cry: he's the only one who can protect humans from demonic infestation.
• Willfully Weak: It's perfectly clear that Dante never goes all out in any of his adventures, barring the fight against Mundus and arguably Vergil/Nero Angelo, mostly due his laid-back personality and that he likes to have fun hunting each demons personally (or because he's Passing the Torch in Nero's case). This is most evident in his incarnations from Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 2, the former where it's stated he has surpassed his father in strength and the latter in which Dante has gone beyond that, rendering Sparda's powers useless to him by attaining the Majin Devil Trigger, basically becoming the top Physical God in the series. Needless to say, he doesn't need to spend his time hunting demons in areas populated only by them when he could just blast the land away by flicking his finger.
• World of Cardboard Speech:
  • Delivers one after his fight with Lady.
  • He also gives one to Vergil right before their final battle in Devil May Cry 3, coupled with "The Reason You Suck" Speech.

Dante: "What are you gonna do with all of that power, huh? No matter how hard you try, you're never gonna be like father." Vergil: "You're wasting time!" Dante: "We are the sons of Sparda! Within each of us flows his blood, but more importantly, his soul! And now my soul is saying it wants to stop you!

• Youngest Child Wins
• You Remind Me of X: In Devil May Cry 1, Phantom, Griffon, and Mundus all remark on how similar Dante is to Sparda. Nevan also compares him to Sparda in Devil May Cry 3.

Trish

"It looks like we have a winner."

"...Five minutes."

Trish is a mysterious dame that visited Dante in his office, and seemed to know about his "secret" history. She told him that Mundus is trying to break out of the Underworld again, and that Dante should head for Mallet Island to put a stop to it. For some reason or other, she has lightning powers and bears a striking resemblance to Dante's deceased mother... so who is she really?

The truth about Trish is that she's a servant of Mundus, who was ordered to lure Dante to the island. She was created in the likeness of Dante's mother, perhaps in order to persuade him better. When Trish and Nightmare fail to kill Dante, Mundus uses her as bait to lure Dante to his lair, upon which Trish throws herself in front of Dante to take the blow of Mundus' Eye Beams attack, and presumably dies doing so. This drives Dante in such a rage that he can now Devil Trigger with the Sword of Sparda, which had been dormant before. Dante mourns for Trish and leaves the Sparda with her and sheds a few "devil's tears". Desperately trying to escape from the collapsing island, Dante engages in yet another battle with a deformed Mundus. Exhausted, Dante somehow hears the voice of his mother, and Trish appears, miraculously returned to life. She gives him a power boost strong enough for Dante to blow Mundus back to Hell and sealing him away again.

A very relieved Dante decides to take Trish with him and they make a final escape via the old biplane. He allows her to keep the Sparda and Trish is now an employee of Dante's demon-slaying business.

• Absolute Cleavage: It's there if you squint. Definitely so as Gloria.
• Action Girl
• Anti-Hero: Type III.
• Artificial Demon
• Atsuko Tanaka: Seiyuu for the anime and the Japanese version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
• Back from the Dead: If it wasn't a Disney Death.
• Bare Your Midriff
• Big Damn Heroes: Comes to Dante's aid and lends him her power to defeat Mundus.
  • Deus Ex Machina: Anyone care explaining how Trish inexplicably came back to life?
    • Continuity Snarl: Viewtiful Joe has Mundus stating that the amulet Trish was given (and still wearing) was haunted by Eva's soul, and that Eva was responsible for having brought Trish back to life. Her voice is heard just before Trish appears, anyway. Not a single word has actually been said about that in the series proper, however.
• Biker Babe: For a brief Dynamic Entry in the first game. Trish's preferred method of transportation in the anime is also a motorcycle. She takes it up to Crazy Awesome levels in a recent trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom 3, where she starts breakdancing on it.
• Blondes Are Evil: At first...
  • Heel Realization: Is hit hard by this trope after realizing exactly how much emotional turmoil she's putting Dante through.
  • Hair of Gold: She's still flawed in certain areas, but overall, Trish is now a well-meaning person.
• Breakout Character: She joins Dante in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 lineup.
• Combat Stilettos
• Cool Shades:
  • For all of one cutscene. That same cutscene where she repeatedly kicks Dante, shocks him with electricity, and then throws a motorcycle at him via Super Strength... only for him to shake it off like it was nothing.
  • For her appearance in Devil May Cry 2 as a Secret Character, Trish dons her sunglasses while DTed.
• Dark-Skinned Blond: As Gloria.
• Dual-Wielding: Uses two retractable knives as Gloria.
• Erotic Eating: She seems to enjoy eating pizza a bit more than most.
• Fan Service Pack: Trish was actually somewhat petite in the original game. You wouldn't know that judging by Devil May Cry 4 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
• Femme Fatale: Prior to her Heel Face Turn, although bits and pieces of this pop up again from time to time.
• Guns Akimbo: Luce and Ombra, as seen in Devil May Cry 2 and Devil May Cry 4.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: She's a Whip It Good short of being a dominatrix.
• Hello, Nurse!: As Gloria, natch.
• High Heel Face Turn
• Hot Chick with a Sword: At the end of the first game, she's seen wielding the Sparda sword. She doesn't actually get to use in the series proper, instead brandishing it in Devil May Cry 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
• Identical Stranger: For Eva. Dante is at a loss of words the moment Trish takes off her sunglasses in the first game and reveals that she looks just like his mother.
• It Amused Me: Pretty much functions as the linchpin of Devil May Cry 4's plot due to this trope.
• Jiggle Physics: Her breasts seem to bounce somewhat arbitrarily. Works just fine for the viewers though.
• Luci Christian: Her voice in The Animated Series.
• Ms. Fanservice
• Murderous Thighs: As Gloria, no less. Given her status as the above trope, it's justified. It also was a wonder that Capcom wasn't called out for that entire sequence.
• Painted-On Pants
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Subverted: both Dante and Sanctus are immediately able to tell who Gloria is. Dante laughs when he sees her and Sanctus even mutters, "Oh, it's you, Gloria" to Trish when she's not even Gloria anymore. Yet Trish and Gloria look nothing alike, so that the fans couldn't tell who Gloria is until The Reveal and assumed she was a new character.
• Rapunzel Hair: She skirts the line.
• Redemption Equals Death
• Reverse Mole: Hinted to be working for the Order in Devil May Cry 4 to help out Dante. Of course, she doesn't actually bother to tell Dante that she's stealing the Sparda...
• Say My Name: Happens a lot between her and Dante in the first game.
• Shock and Awe
• The Smurfette Principle: Gloria is the only female executive of the Order of the Sword.
• Stripperiffic: Natch.
• Taking the Bullet: More like Taking The Agony Beam.
• Tall, Blond and Bishoujo: In The Animated Series.
• Vapor Wear: As Gloria in Devil May Cry 4. It actually makes her usual look seem conservative!
• Woman in Black: Mostly subverted, although she does exhibit a few traits associated with Femme Fatales (especially in Marvel vs. Capcom 3).

Lucia

"Till next time, son of Sparda."

"Dante told me... devils never cry!"

A red-haired woman that is part of a clan that protects Dumary Island from demons. She uses an array of throwing knives and daggers in combat, along with being able to transform into a white birdlike demon. She sees Matier as her mentor and mother-figure.

Turns out that Lucia isn't human at all: she is one of Arius' "creations" and was left to die as Arius deemed her to be defective. Matier took Lucia in and raised her as her own, although upon learning this truth Lucia began to overwhelmed by panic and doubt as she feared she would go berserk and turn against the humans she only wanted to protect. She pleaded with Dante to kill her because "it's his job to hunt devils" (which he refuses to do and gives her his coin to hold on to). Matier reassures her that their bond runs deeper than her circumstances of creation/birth. As Dante goes through the Demon Gate to fight Argosax, Lucia fights and kills a deformed, possessed Arius. She's last seen in Dante's office, waiting for him to return.

• Action Girl
• Airplane Arms: While running in her Devil Trigger form.
• Animal Motifs: Birds (see Winged Humanoid below). Arius' Secretaries also share this motif, as seen by their bird-like eyes and Cool Masks in the shape of beaks.
• Artificial Human: She's an artificial demon.
• Automatic Crossbows: Like Dante in the first game, Lucia can use a rapidfire bowgun underwater. Her version has an angel motif.
• Badass Cape/Scarf of Asskicking: It's somewhere inbetween the two.
• Badass in Distress: After finding out about her connection to Arius, she sets off to defeat him (and perhaps take herself down with him), but is captured merely because he is a more skilled combatant. Dante saves her, and she later gives Arius his just desserts.
• Bare Your Midriff
• Braids of Action
• Cloning Blues: Subverted, albeit not at first. By the end of the game, however, Lucia realizes that (thanks to Dante and Parental Substitute Matier), it doesn't matter if she's one of several artificially-created demons as long as she has close ties to her friends and family.
• Combat Stilettos: And unlike the other ladies, she actually uses them in battle.
• Dark-Skinned Redhead
• Death Seeker: On the verge of a Despair Event Horizon and fearing that she'd loose control of her demonic nature and end up hurting her loved ones and other humans, Lucia ventures through the second half of her story with a suicidal depression. She even asks Dante to kill her before the final battle, although Dante's kind words help her cope with who she is.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": She doesn't like being called Chi.
• Dual-Wielding: Just about every weapon she uses.
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: At least, that's what her VA was going for. Which is strange because her VA (Francoise Gralewski) is French (well, half-French half-Polish) and has been featured in several French-language dubs. Her accent is pretty consistent, whatever it is. It just stands out due to outrageous Dull Surprise.
• Exotic Weapon Supremacy
• Fingerless Gloves
• Flawed Prototype: According to Arius, she's a defective. His Bodyguard Babes are supposedly stronger than her, but Lucia goes on to defeat Arius himself when he's transformed into a full demon.
• Gaiden Game: Her story could be seen as this.
• Green Eyed Red Head
• Happily Adopted: It turns out that Matier isn't Lucia's birth mother, but she doesn't care because the love was real.
• Heroic BSOD: Upon getting The Reveal.
• Hot Chick with a Sword: Two, in fact.
• Knife Nut: A heroic version. It's her ranged Weapon of Choice.
• The Lady's Favour: Subverted/gender flipped. While it is Dante who ventures forth to fight Argosax, he is the one who entrusts his lucky coin to Lucia, asking her to keep it safe for him. It is then that she discovers that it's a trick coin. Lucia is later seen flipping it in the epilogue, but leaves it behind as she fervently rushes out to reunite with Dante.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: She was created by Arius, the second game's main antagonist.
• Mark of Shame: The χ-shaped symbol on her left shoulder, which Arius uses to pound home the fact that she's nothing more than a "mannequin".
  • X Marks the Hero
• More Expendable Than You: She says, but if anything, this actually made her more worth of living than himself in Dante's eyes.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: She infiltrates Arius' office disguised as one of his Sexy Secretary Bodyguard Babes. Arius is not fooled. Subversion: she and all of the clones look exactly alike, so a change of clothes would presumably be all that's needed to fool Arius. Him being able to see through the disguise anyway is impressive.
• Peek-a-Bangs
• Redheaded Heroine
• She Fu: Her fighting style employs various acrobatic manuevers and dance-esque kicks.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: Aside of her knives, she has access to compact bombs called Cranky Bombs, which can be either set or thrown. They're also one of two subweapons usuable underwater (the other being the blowgun).
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Debatable, but Lucia definitely appears to warm up to Dante by the end of the game. It's mostly one-sided though. Everyone warms up to Dante by the end of the game. It's only a matter of when their development will get dropped by the next installment (I'm looking at you, Lady and Trish). For what it's worth, Dante seems to warm up to Lucia as well. So, not totally one-sided.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: She has a complex with this after realizing she's a demon.
• White Sheep: A telltale sign between Lucia and the others is the lack of malicious-looking bird-esque eyes.
• Winged Humanoid: To contrast with Dante's more demonic visage while DT'ed, her Devil Trigger form is some sort of Angelic Beauty bird woman resembling a dove. Her wings are actually on her arms (with her feathers being used as projectiles in place of her knives) and she doesn't gain wings to fly with unless she has the Aerial Heart equipped. Lucia's unlockable Secretary outfit is instead patterned after a Ravens and Crows/Fallen Angel.
• You Are Number Six: Her original name was Chi (χ), the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet. While it's unknown if Arius made at least 21 other demons like Lucia, he's shown to have at least a few around.

Lady

"Looks like we're gonna be busy for awhile."

"Mary died a long time ago. My name... is Lady."

First appearing in Devil May Cry 3, Lady is one of Dante's allies. While she is a full-blooded human and therefore does not have the physical power of a (half-)demon, she is still a competent gunslinger and capable fighter.

In Devil May Cry 3, Lady's goal is to kill Arkham, her father, and avenge the death of her mother (who Arkham killed). She encounters Dante multiple times, shooting or threatening to shoot him at least once each time. He is, after all, part demon (though she doesn't know this at first, believing him to be a demon who happens to look like a human), and she also plans to hunt down demons. During one of these encounters, when Dante asks her what her name is, she tells him that she doesn't have one and doesn't care what he calls her. Dante's response: "Whatever, Lady."

In Mission 13, it's revealed that Lady being there is an important part of Arkham's plan. She happens to have been descended from a priestess whose blood was part of the Temen-ni-Gru's seal, keeping a portal to the demon world closed. There, Arkham shows his true colours, stabbing his own daughter in the leg to undo the seal. This strengthens Lady's resolve to kill Arkham: she only relents when Dante defeats her in battle. Even then, she eventually gets back up. When Arkham falls out of the demon world and lays dying on top of the Temen-ni-Gru, he finds Lady waiting for him and pointing a gun at his head. Yes, Arkham dies at Lady's hand... and she cries over his death, after thinking she wouldn't.

Lady and Dante join forces and become friends at the end of the game. She plays a very minor role in Devil May Cry 4 (which quite a few fans were unhappy about): she told Dante about the Order of the Sword, as well as their recent activities. In the secret ending, she decides to come along with Dante on another job.

"Acrobatic gunslinger" would best describe how Lady fights: she uses a variety of guns as well as acrobatics in battle, most notably the rocket launcher Kalina Ann. She also carries various other ranged weapons such as throwing knives and grenades, though these are only seen in the boss battle against her.

• Absolute Cleavage: In Devil May Cry 4.
• Action Girl
• Almost Kiss: With Dante.
• Anti-Hero: Type III, sliding towards Type II.
• Apocalypse Maiden: Is crucial to Arkham's plan with the Temen-ni-gru, even moreso than the Sons of Sparda.
• Badass Biker: It's a pretty snazzy ride to boot (complete with Weaponized Exhaust!). Too bad that Dante wrecks it.
• Badass Normal: Whether she's this or has Charles Atlas Superpower is hard to say, but she easily qualifies for either trope.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Her relationship with Dante in Devil May Cry 3.
• BFG: Kalina Ann, a rocket launcher which she carries on her back, even while doing acrobatic manuevers.
  • Blade Brake: She uses the Bayonet Ya on Kalina Ann to stop her fall from the Temen-ni-Gru. How she manages to get down to the bottom safely is a mystery.
  • Swiss Army Weapon
• Cool Shades: In Devil May Cry 4.
• Cute Bruiser: She's 18 or probably less during her first appearance!
• Defeat Means Friendship: Between her and Dante.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She's very tense and cold for most of the game. It's not until the above trope comes into play that Lady starts to lighten up.
• Demoted to Extra: In Devil May Cry 4.
• Determinator: See below.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul"
• Fumiko Orikasa: Seiyuu in the anime.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar running across the bridge of her nose. Also at least one on one of her thighs.
• Guns Akimbo
• The Gunslinger: More so than the other heroes, if only because she carries even more of them.
• Hollywood Healing: Played straight and averted at different times. You'd think that bayonet through the leg would have left a mark. It does end up leaving one in the anime. An X-shaped mark.
• I Call It Vera: Kalina Ann, her rocket launcher which she named after her mother.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: After her battle with Dante. Possibly justified in that Dante just walked over her the same way Muhammad Ali slugged out George Foreman.
• The Lady's Favour: Her temporary relinquishing of Kalina Ann to Dante in Devil May Cry 3 with the request to "save" her father Arkham, minus the part about being a Love Interests (possibly). And no, this was not Just for Pun.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Hysteric.
• Made of Iron: Gets stabbed through the thigh with the giant bayonet on the aforementioned giant rocket launcher, has it wiggled around in a way that would normally cripple the leg for life if you didn't bleed out first, but she's back up for a boss fight shortly afterward. And then she climbs up the outside of a damn tower. Let it be known that she lacks the Healing Factor that the sons of Sparda have, yet manages to shake off almost as much as they do. Which should bug people when hearing of the outtake where she holds her own against Dante and Vergil before the plot reveal, because she shouldn't be that strong. It's simple. Rule of Cool and Charles Atlas Superpower.
• Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter and The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter
• Male Gaze: Her introduction to the story in the fourth game? Dante's POV, aimed squarely at her cleavage, before looking up.
• Mismatched Eyes
• Missing Mom
• Only Known by Their Nickname
• Plucky Girl: Not even getting her ass kicked by Dante is enough to stop her. Her determination does pay off in the end: she gets to kill Arkham after all.
• Progressively Prettier: Compare Lady in her debut to Lady at the time of Devil May Cry 4. Semi-justified since she's several years older. And she wasn't exactly unattractive to begin with, as her fandom will attest.
• Self-Made Orphan: Although when your father is Arkham, it has to be done.
• That Man Is Dead: See the above quote.
• Trying Not to Cry: Upon killing Arkham, her father.
• Unorthodox Reload: Approximately three guns at once, all of which spent some time in the air during their reloading process. While fighting in close quarters.
• Van Helsing Hate Crimes: At first. She later gets over it.

Nero

"This baby sure can pack a punch."

"From that day forth, my arm changed... and a voice echoed. Power... Give me more power!"

Nero made his first appearance in Devil May Cry 4, where he is one of two playable characters. He lives in the castle town of Fortuna, which is home to a Sparda-worshipping religion known as the Order of the Sword, and is a member of the Holy Knights, a group charged by the Order with the duty of hunting and killing demons.

Putting it lightly, Nero is very out of place in Fortuna for a number of reasons: he wears different colours to everyone else, holds little faith to the Order's beliefs, works alone, and--most notably--has white hair and an unusual arm. This arm, the Devil Bringer, has demonic powers, but also a demonic appearance.

In the game itself, he is sent by the Order to track down Dante after the Son of Sparda killed the Order's leader, Sanctus. Nero and his love interest Kyrie soon wind up in a mess (again, putting it lightly).

It turns out that The Order is a Corrupt Church with plans to conquer the world. After finding this out Nero decides to get some answers, only for things to go wrong. Kyrie gets kidnapped, and an angry Nero goes after Agnus and Sanctus. Of course, this is what they wanted. It's revealed that Nero is a descendant of Sparda (already hinted at in a number of cutscenes, including one where he gained Yamato), and the Saviour, a giant statue, needs a descendant of Sparda to power it. So Nero gets trapped inside with no way out.

For a while. Eight missions later, Dante helps Nero escape, and the two work together to defeat Sanctus (which involves rescuing Kyrie). When the Big Bad tries one last attempt to fight, Nero unleashes the full power of the Devil Bringer and kills him in a single blow. Dante leaves Yamato to Nero, and all in all it's a happy ending... well, except for the wrecked Fortuna. And the Scarecrows.

Nero's weapons include Red Queen (a sword with a motor in it which can be revved to increase damage), Blue Rose (a double-barrelled revolver which Nero apparently built himself), the Devil Bringer (his arm, which allows him to use a variety of powerful attacks) and later Yamato.

• Air Guitar: One of his more exterme taunts. If you stop and listen, there's actual music playing.
• Badass Abnormal
• Badass Longcoat: It's almost a Badass Long Robe, which makes him seem only slightly less out of place in Fortuna.
• Blue Oni: Plays this role to Dante's Red Oni. However, there is a slight inversion, as Nero is more prone to emotional outbursts and Hot-Blooded moments.
• Bottomless Magazines: During gameplay, anyway. He has to reload during one cutscene.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: First glances can be deceiving. Very deceiving.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Subverted.
• Cool Sword: He actually got two:
  • Red Queen
    • BFS
    • Companion Cube
    • Flaming Sword/Hot Blade
    • It Runs on Nonsensoleum/Rule of Cool: It's a sword with an engine inside of it, that Nero revs up and ignites using its bike-like grip.
    • Reverse Grip: For his High Roller technique.
  • Yamato
    • BFS
    • Blade Below the Shoulder
    • Evil Weapon: Or at least dark.
    • Give Me a Sword: Subverted. Nero asks to keep it to finish his mission. Dante later entrusts the sword to Nero, knowing that it's in good hands.
    • Katanas Are Just Better
    • Sword Beam
• Cursed with Awesome: Devil Bringer.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Him and Dante, sorta.
• Dynamic Entry: Poor Dante.
• Expy: Casual and unrefined, but likes to fight (without caring about the cause)? Got into the good fight just to save a cute girl from the corrupted agents of her own cause? Dark, tunic-style jacket? Superpowered arm? Why, hello, Gene.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: Do not get between this man and his woman.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: A Devil Bringer specialty.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Story details in Devil May Cry 4 hint at him being one-quarter devil.
• Hammerspace: The Devil Bringer is shown to absorb any upgrades or items Nero picks up along his adventure, along with the ability to call some like Yamato back out for attacks.
• Hand Cannon
• The Heretic: Goes against the Order of the Sword's teachings just to save the love of his life.
• Heroes Want Redheads: Kyrie.
• I Am a Monster: Suffers with this complex for a bit, until Kyrie assures him that she loves him for who he is.
• In the Blood: Vergil's coolheadedness and aloof demeanor, Uncle Dante's sense of humor, jocular attitude and flamboyance in battle. Interestingly, this makes him the complete opposite of grandfather Sparda, who was generally affable but highly focused in battle.
• I Shall Taunt You: With a "Come on!".
• I Will Protect Her: Anything to protect her...
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Manly Tears: Upon screaming out Kyrie's name while being absorbed into The Savior's core. He comes very close to a Despair Event Horizon.
• Mr. Fanservice: It runs in the family.
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast
• Parental Abandonment: His alleged dad is Deader Than Dead (and Nero never met him, outside of a brief exchange in Nero's mind during the novelization when he's activating his Devil Trigger), and his mother's identity is unknown.
• Patrick Stewart Speech: To Sanctus.
• Plot Induced Stupidity: He could have saved Kyrie with his Devil Bringer on at least two ocassions. The thought never crosses his mind. The only things you use the Devil Bringer for in-game is as a grappling hook against non-corporeal targets or to lay the smackdown on the bad guys, neither of which requires a delicate touch, unlike saving Kyrie from the baddie. He does try and grab her using the arm at one point, but it's not using it's supernatural giant-grabbing-ghost-hand power. Perhaps the Devil Bringer is incapable of being used in a gentle manner?
• Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner
• Punny Name: The Exceed version of Nero's Calibur is named EX Calibur, a play on Excalibur, the legendary and mythical weapon of King Arthur.
• Put on a Bus: If the new game's previews are to be believed, we will never see this guy again. Which is a disappointment in and of itself. Not necessarily. DmC was originally a prequel to Devil May Cry 3/reboot, but has now shifted firmly into a parallel universe with a different Dante. Given the Sequel Hooks thrown our way, there's a good chance we'll see Nero again some time in the future.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Upon activating his Devil Trigger for the first time, complete with Theme Music Power-Up, Power Echoes, Battle Aura and a Badass Creed. It happens again when Angelo Agnus escapes with Kyrie, leaving Nero to deal with some Mooks.
• Red Right Hand: His Devil Bringer.
  • Grappling Hook Pistol: One of its functions.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: Pretty much all of his Buster moves.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs
  • Strong as They Need to Be: Sometimes.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer: Beats up Mooks, triggers Action Commands, solves puzzles...
  • You Will Not Evade Me: Mooks, meet Devil Bringer.
• Repeat Cut: Can be done with the Devil Bringer's animation during the final battle against Sanctus.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Blue Rose.
• Shout-Out: Several.
  • Obviously, to Zangief as listed below.
  • A demonic Red Right Hand, wears a Badass Longcoat, works for an order of knights who hunt down and eliminate supernatural threats, wields a giant revolver... remind you of anyone?
    • Take away the "works for an order of knights who hunt down and elimante supernatural threats" part, and you've got a pretty accurate description of Vash the Stampede. Also, consider his (English) voice actor...
  • In the same vein as the above, Nero can easily be described as a "tall handsome man in a dusty black coat with a red right hand." Possibly a Shout-Out to Nick Cave?
  • The Blue Rose bears a striking resemblance to another big, double-barreled revolver.
  • He has an attack called High Roller, huh?
  • His sword has an engine built inside of it, thus allowing it to generate flames.
• Spinning Piledriver: Devil Trigger-powered Buster performed on an Alto Angelo involves supplexing him twice before jumping and pulling off the Izuna Drop.
• Sword and Gun
• Theme Naming: Many of Nero's attacks are named after gambling and/or card game terminology (Roulette Spin, High Roller, Streak, Split, Double Down, Shuffle, Maximum Bet, Showdown).
• Unorthodox Reload: Only done once, in a cutscene, but reloading for Nero basically means tossing the bullets and then spinning.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy
• World of Cardboard Speech: A variant, as he had already decided on his motives; he was simply declaring it aloud.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Knows how to perform Zangief's Final Atomic Buster as well as landing a dropkick on Dante of all people.
• You Remind Me of X: Berial gets some serious Dante vibes from Nero, better hinted at in the novelization.

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