Devil May Cry/Characters/Villains

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Vergil

"My sincerest apology, brother. I was so eager to see you I couldn't concentrate on preparations for the bash."

"Foolishness, Dante, foolishness. Might controls everything. And without strength, you cannot protect anything. Let alone yourself."

The older of Sparda and Eva's twin sons, Vergil strongly resembles Dante... in appearance, and appearance only. When it comes to their personalities, they are complete opposites: while Dante is hotheaded and cocky but ultimately fights for humanity, Vergil is cool and collected and out for his own gain.

In Devil May Cry 3 and its prologue manga, Vergil joined forces with Arkham to release Temen-ni-gru and open the portal to the demon world. However, circumstances first led Vergil to kill Arkham (or so he thought), and then to team up with his brother to stop Arkham. After he was dealt with, the brothers fought over the Force Edge, with Dante ultimately winning. Vergil chose to stay in the Demon World, and decided to try and fight Mundus.

Devil May Cry reveals what happened to Vergil afterwards: somehow, he had become a servant of Mundus under the name Nelo Angelo. After several more clashes with his brother, he was defeated and vanished. Whether he survived is unclear, though given various hints in Devil May Cry 4, it seems unlikely.

In Devil May Cry 3, Vergil wields Yamato, a katana he inherited from his father, and later dual wields it with the Force Edge. As Nelo Angelo, he wields a very large sword.

Mundus

"So sad that humans will always be humans, no more. Has the Sparda blood been spoiled over the ages?"

"Again I must face a Sparda... strange fate, isn't it?"

Two thousand... several thousand... a really long time ago, the human and the demon worlds were at war, and the dark emperor Mundus was at the head of the demon side. His plan was to rule both worlds, but Sparda defeated Mundus, sealing him and a number of portals to the demon world away. Needless to say, the Prince of Darkness was not very happy.

He serves as the main villain of the first Devil May Cry game. Planning to use a portal on Mallet Island to return to the human world, he used Trish to lure Dante there and sent his generals, particularly Nelo Angelo, to kill him. They all failed. Trish too failed him, but Mundus decided to try a trick instead of outright killing her.

Once Dante arrived in his lair, Mundus used Trish as a hostage ("Blink, and she dies!"), and took advantage of Dante being distracted to attack him. Trish took the killing blow for Dante, which wound up making Dante very unhappy.

So the two fought a legendary battle. As Dante was trying to escape Mallet Island afterwards, Mundus showed up again, this time falling apart. Trish then showed up, and helped Dante send Mundus back to the demon world. As he disappeared, he promised that he would return.

Mundus uses his considerable powers in combat.

Plot points throughout the first game and the series in general seem to imply that Mundus was the one responsible for the death of Eva, the mother of Dante and Vergil. Nothing has officially been disclosed.

  • Advancing Boss of Doom: Mundus, Round 3.
  • Agony Beam: If you're not up to par, expect to receive this.
  • Beard of Evil: His older form sports one.
  • Bigger Bad: Of the series, more or less. A lot of events can be traced back to his battles against Sparda back in the day.
  • Big No: Both after you defeat him the second time and when Dante seals him away with help from Trish.
  • Blob Monster: His true form is implied to be a slimy orange mass with a lot of arms and eyeballs.
    • Not just implied: his marble outer shell slowly but surely crumbles as you face him in mortal combat. By the time you'll vanquished him for good, most of his grotesque, fleshy true form—nothing more than a writhing mass of living tissue, complete with three eyeballs dangling from their eyestalks and hundreds of arms—is exposed.
  • Clipped-Wing Angel: The third and final battle with him.
  • Eviler Than Thou: Some of the cast in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 like to deride his ability or diminish his accomplishments (that is to say, being The Devil in the Devil May Cry universe) by saying they've faced worse or are worse.

Ghost Rider (intro to Trish): "I eat demons like Mundus for breakfast."
Phoenix (when beating Vergil) "Perhaps if I'm not too busy, I'll take care of Mundus, too."

Dormammu (win-quote against Dante) "As you can see, not all demons are created equal. Stick to fighting Mundus, boy!"

Mundus (holding Trish captive): "Don't even think about it. Blink, she dies."

  • Satan: Unquestionably, he is the Biggest Bad to grace this series. Mundus harbors many parallels to Satan. He fancies himself as God in his throne room, which is filled with light and made of perfect white marble, and appears as a multi-winged angel who fell from the heavens. Of course, those images are a mask to his true Blob Monster form.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can
  • Third Eye
  • You Have Failed Me...: He kills Griffon for failing to kill Dante, and dialogue implies he's done the same to others that failed him in the past. Dante doesn't approve of this.


Phantom

"Ack... argh... You... you're not just any ordinary human... What are you?"

The first of Mundus' servants, he attacks Dante in a chapel in the castle at Mallet Island and later on the roof, as well as appearing as an Advancing Wall of Doom in certain areas. He appears again for some reason in Devil May Cry 2 as a boss when you attempt to open the gate to the demon realm.

  • Advancing Wall of Doom: In some areas.
  • Breath Weapon: He can shoot heat beams out of his maw.
  • The Dragon: One of Mundus' generals and apparently his right-hand man. Whether or not he was Co-Dragons with Sparda before the demon knight's defection or became Mundus' general in Sparda's absence is unknown.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Has a deep, harsh voice. So deep and harsh, the game turns on a closed caption feature to make sure the player understands what he's saying.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: In the second game, he literally falls from the sky. And no explanation is given.
  • Giant Spider: He's basically this. Made of stone and lava, that is.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He eventually falls from the ceiling and gets impaled on the Knight Statue's spear.
  • Magma Man: He manifests via earth and magma.
  • Recurring Boss: With five appearances (four in Devil May Cry and one in Devil May Cry 2), he's second only to Vergil as the most recurring boss in the series. He also holds the record of having the most recurrences in a single game.
  • Scary Scorpions: He has pincers and can turn his fat back into a long scorpion-tail.
  • Time Travel: An excerpt from the Guidepost suggests that Phantom was brought through some "door to the past" for his appearance in Devil May Cry 2.
  • The Voiceless: In Devil May Cry 2. Possibly Justified Trope, as he was only there for one boss battle.
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss


Griffon

"You! Are you the human, the son of Sparda, who challenges the Darkness Mundus?"

The second of Mundus' servants to face Dante, appears as a huge demonic eagle which attacks Dante several times in his journey. He's eventually defeated and destroyed by an angry Mundus. His death prompts Dante to become more serious.


Nightmare

A bionic demon-weapon built by Mundus who's sent after Dante. It appears as a large Blob Monster with a lot of nasty powers. Dante will require the help of some special platforms to make it solid and hurt his cores.

  • An Ice Person: In "slime" form, Nightmare sends out little black slugs that latch onto Dante, freeze him, and explode into ice. In "solid" form, standing directly in front of it will prompt it to fire a high-damaging ice beam with a long duration from its "mouth".
  • Attack Drone: Sends out several to cover its core, as well as make life for Dante hell in general.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: The cores.
  • Blob Monster: The most obvious one.
  • Boss Arena Idiocy: Whenever he appears, there will be blue stones to keep him solid.
  • Combat Tentacles: Which can become spears.
  • Frickin' Laser Beams
  • Nigh Invulnerability: Whenever it's a writhing pile of gloop. You have to activate the pedestals located in the room in order to force Nightmare to turn solid and reveal its weak point.
  • Nightmare Sequence: If it absorbs Dante, he is trapped in a dream world (really just a smallish arena with floating skulls), and must beat a (much weaker) hallucinatory version of a previous boss.
  • Recurring Boss: It's fought three times, all towards endgame (Missions 16, 18 and 20).
  • Won't Work On Me: As the Nightmare-β was designed in a similar fashion to the real Nightmare, its lasers (which are game-breaking if even three runes of Dante's Devil Gauge are Charged Attack) are ineffective against its brother bioweapon. Presumably, the same applies for Trish's Nightmare-γ in Devil May Cry 2.

Arius

"The world is already warped. Everything that belongs to the demons will eventually revert to its original form."

The president of an international public corporation named Uroboros, he wishes to revive the demon king Argosax the Chaos and absorb his power. To complete this task, he travels to Dumary Island in search of the Arcana, magical artifacts necessary for breaking Argosax's seal.

It is revealed that Arius is the creator of Lucia, a "defect" who he abandoned long ago.

In the end, his ambition is thwarted by Dante's trickery, who sets up Arius by switching the Arcana Medaglia with his own lucky coin. While defeated by Dante, Arius is revived as a demon... who is ultimately destroyed by his own faulty creation, Lucia.


The Servants of Arius

A series of powerful demons met by Dante and Lucia during the course of the game in many locations, they're powerful monsters serving Arius. The most noticeable are Orangguerra, Jokatgulm, Infestant, Nefasturris, Furiataurus, Tateobesu, Bolverk, Noctpteran, Tartarussian & Plutonian and Trismagia. Nefasturris, Orangguerra, Jokatgulm and Furiataurus reappear later merged in Argosax's body.

Enemy File - Orangguerra: "A giant and hostile monster that possesses prodigious strength and agility."

Enemy File - Furiataurus: "Haunted by death, agony, and resentment of the condemned, its four limbs are still in flames."

  • Horned Humanoid: Furiataurus, to complete its classic Devil-inspired look.
  • Invisible Monsters: Tateobesu is an odd variation. It can become invisible "by assimilating its body to water", but you can still see it as clear as day. While in this state, however, you can't lock-on to it. Naturally, it's stuck in its invisible state in Dante Must Die mode.
  • Just Eat Him: Tateobesu tries this frequently as you battle it.
  • King Mook: Orangguerra for the Msira enemies and Tartarussian and Plutonian for the Finis enemies.
  • Laser Blade: One of Bolverk's more potent attacks is empowering his spear and then performing a Stinger-like attack where a blade of energy extends from his (already long) weapon.
  • A Load of Bull: Furiataurus.
  • MacGuffin Guardian: Tartarussian guards the Arcana Spada and Plutonian guards the Arcana Medaglia.
  • Make Me Wanna Shout: Orangguerra can fire a bubble-like projectile of concussive force from its mouth.
  • Meaningful Name: Nefasturris (Tower of Sin), Nefascapitas (Head of Sin), Furiataurus (Bull of Fury), Noctpteran (Night Wing), Trismagia (more or less, Three Mages; could also draw comparisons to the Magi). Tartarussian and Plutonian come from Tartarus and Pluto. Bolverk is an alias Odin once took while masquerading as a human, while Freki and Geri were two wolves who accompanied him in tales.
  • Mini Boss: Infested Tank. You face three as Dante and one as Lucia.
  • Mismatched Eyes: Orangguera. Three are yellow, one is blue.
  • Mix and Match Critter: Jokatgulm. She has the head of a cobra, the body of a jellyfish, and the tentacles of an octopus.
  • Multiple Head Case: Tartarussian and Plutonian.
  • Non-Mammal Mammaries: Perhaps the only way you can discern Jokatgulm is one of the few female bosses in the game.
  • Playing with Fire: Trismagia's red head and Furiataurus.
  • The Power of Hate: Bolverk, possibly. According to his enemy file, "his single eye possesses both knowlege and malice."
  • Punny Name: Oranguerra is a play on orangutan and guerra, the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese word for "war."
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Trismagia gives one to Dante. Dante, unfazed, counters with a Shut UP, Hannibal (see his entry above).
  • Recurring Boss: Bolverk and his wolves.
  • Religion Is Magic: Trismagia is the oracle of Demon World. Overlaps with Evil Sorceror.
  • Rooftop Confrontation: Infested Chopper and Furiataurus.
  • Shielded Core Boss: Jokatgulm subverts this. You can go straight for her head, but it's a lot easier without her tentacles in the way.
  • Shock and Awe: Trismagia's blue head. Plutonian can also call forth electric beams to shoot out of the walls in its arena in order to attack Dante and entrap him by limiting his area of movement. Tateobesu's Prehensile Tail appears to be electrified.
  • Spin to Deflect Stuff: Bolverk.
  • Surprise Vehicle: Infested Chopper.
  • Taking You with Me: When drained of all his health, Trismagia reforms to deliver one final blast that bites a chunk out of your lifebar. You need to survive or (more preferably) dodge it so that Trismagia can finally die. If it kills you (and given the length and structure of the battle, you'll probably be low on health at the time), you have to fight him all over again.
  • Tank Goodness: Not exactly in the case of the Infested Tanks.
  • Third Eye: All three of Trismagia's heads sport these.
  • Trick Boss: Nefasturris --> Nefascapitas. Have fun.
  • Underwater Boss Battle: Tateobesu, exclusive to Lucia's disc.
  • Voice Grunting: Bolverk at times. Jokatgulm also delivers a screechy wail as a death cry.
  • The Voiceless: All of them, barring Trismagia (who gets maybe three lines).
  • Won't Work On Me: Averted. Trismagia, whether whole or separated, is not immune to his respective elements.
  • The Worm That Walks: Nefasturris is composed by swarms of lesser demons called "Nefasverminis" (Worms of Sin).
  • Worthy Opponent: Bolverk fought Sparda in the past, and now he wants a rematch against his son.


Argosax the Chaos/The Despair Embodied

The king of Demon World, Argosax is ancient demon who was defeated by Sparda with the help of the Vie de Marli and sealed using four magical artifacts. Arius seeks the Arcana to undo the seal, revive Argosax, and then absorb his power.

Despite Dante and Lucia thwarting Arius' plans, the resurrection ceremony commences anyway, opening a portal to the Demon World. Ultimately, Dante volunteers to go forth and defeat him. Argosax then assumes a sleeker and more powerful form, The Despaired Embodied. After a long and tenuous battle, Dante is ultimately victorious, blasting the former Demon King to bits.

  • Ambiguous Gender: The Despair Embodied is said to be a he, but appears as an androgynous horned being made of fire whose sex changes depending on its Weapon of Choice; the male uses a Flaming Sword, while the female brandishes a Whip It Good.
  • Back from the Dead: This one shouldn't come as a surprise.
  • Bigger Bad: Is the cornerstone of the plot, but doesn't actually do much to affect it (being dead might have something to do with it). He only appears in the final chapter of Dante's story and his influence possesses Arius in Lucia's final mission.
  • Bishonen Line: The Despair Embodied resembles a transparent human with indistinct features. It is vastly more powerful than Argosax's base form.
  • Blob Monster: When confronted by Dante, Argosax is presented as a macabre amalgamation of severals bosses faced by Dante previously (Phantom, Furiataurus, Nefasturris, Jokatgulm and Orangguerra, as well as Griffon from Devil May Cry 1).
  • Eldritch Abomination
  • Flash Step: A specialty of The Despair Embodied is disappearing from sight and then blindsiding you with one of its attacks.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Not the slightest mention was given to The Despair Embodied in the story. It simply bursts out of a cocoon that ejects from Argosax's withering husk and challenges Dante.
  • Glass Cannon: The Despair Embodied has much less health than Argosax, but zips around the place and hits like hell.
  • Horned Humanoid: The Despair Embodied.
  • Marathon Boss: Argosax has a ton of health, but most of its heads can be safely blasted with the rocket launcher from outside their attack range.
  • Mega Manning: See Blob Monster above. Notably, some of the bosses that comprise Argosax skip their Turns Red phase and whip out their more powerful attacks from the get-go.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast
  • No, I Am Behind You: How Dante finishes off The Despair Embodied. He charges at the entity with his sword, and Dante's opponent counter attacks. When the dust clears, the Rebellion falls into the ground and Dante is nowhere in sight. The Despair Embodied then checks his surroundings. Cue Dante, standing right next to him with his gun pointed at the side of his head. Dante smirks and then pulls the trigger, right as The Despair Embodied gives an Oh Crap reaction (well, as best as a being with no eyes can), and the shot shatters the Demon King into millions of pieces.
  • Physical God: Unlike Mundus, Sparda actually did manage to kill him though.
  • Playing with Fire: The Despair Embodied, albeit in the form of combustions.
  • Power Gives You Wings: The Despair Embodied looks like a fiery angel. It even has an attack where it fires a volley of its feathers to rain down on you.
  • The Voiceless
  • Voice Grunting: The Despair Embodied. If you listen closely enough, the voices for The Despaired Embodied seem to be that of Dante (male) and Lucia (female).


Arkham/Jester

"Let's welcome chaos!"

Lady's father, who helped Vergil release the Temen-ni-gru from confinement. He's well-versed in the knowledge of the dark arts, even going so far as to sacrifice Lady's mother to gain more power and knowledge for himself.

He manipulates Vergil, Lady and Dante, bringing them together, as all three characters were necessary to break Sparda's seal and open the portal to the Demon Realm. He often disguises himself as Jester in order to weaken them and keep all of them alive at the same time. He tries to claim Force Edge and Sparda's power, only to be mutated in a giant blob-like mass, which wasn't the power of Sparda, but in reality a reflection of the evil in his heart. In the end, after being severely weakened by the Sparda brothers and being thrown out of the demon realm, he meets his end by Lady's hand.


Guardians of Temen-ni Gru

The various high-level Devils that guarded the Demonic Tower, a passageway between the human world and the demonic domain. Many of them fought Sparda in the past. All those who are defeated are turned into Devil Arms (or powers) for Dante to use. They are Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, Leviathan, Nevan, Beowulf, Geryon and Doppelganger.


Credo

"You jest so lightly in a time of crisis?"

The well-respected Supreme General of the Holy Knights of Fortuna, a position he gained through his incredible skill with a blade and his unwavering loyalty to the Order of the Sword and its ideals. Likewise, he holds the same loyalty for Sanctus and his teachings. He is the older brother of Kyrie and treats Nero as family despite not agreeing with Nero's lifestyle habits. When demons attack Fortuna, Credo leaves the task of demon-slaying to Nero.

Behind the scenes, he is plotting with Sanctus as well as overseeing the situation regarding Dante. He also expresses mixed concern behind the motives of Gloria. Eventually, he is charged with the job of defeating Nero. In the conclusion of their fight, Kyrie is kidnapped by Agnus, a move that shakes Credo's faith in the Order. He makes one final charge against Sanctus later on to free Nero, but things end bleakly. In his dying plea, he requests that Dante save Nero and his beloved sister.


Agnus

"Humans, they are but stubborn and foolish. It takes a journey to Hell for them to accept and praise their God!"

The Chief alchemist of the Order of the Sword, he is the one responsible for artificially creating several of the game's Mook enemies, such as the Cutlass, Gladius, Basilisk and the Angelus Armors. He even takes credit for creating the Hellgates that the bosses and other enemies use to enter the human world (since he had to use many of their souls in the creation of the armors), but due to his shut-in behavior, few among the order know of his existence.

Deserves a mention for that scene where he tries to out-ham Dante.


Berial

The Conqueror of the Fire Hell, is a huge, centaur-like devil who's wreathed in flames from hell. He fights Nero in an abandoned mine village but is defeated. He later reappears but is stopped and slain by Dante. His Hell Gate was powered by the Lucifer Devil Arm.


Bael and Dagon

Two twin devil toads from the coldest inferno. Bael attacks Nero in the castle on Fortuna but is slain by Nero. Later his brother Dagon assaults Dante but meets the same fate. Their Hell Gate is powered by the Devil Arm Pandora.


Echidna

A huge demon who has infested the forest on Fortuna Island. Appears as a huge serpent-like Dragon, but hides her true body in the mouth and can appear as a part woman-part serpent devil. She's laying a bunch of eggs which gives birth to the hellish Chimera. Her Hell Gate is powered by a Devil Arm, the Gilgamesh.

  • Absolute Cleavage
  • Giant Flyer: She hovers over the forest the whole time.
  • Green Thumb: She seems to have some relationship with plants.
  • Just Eat Him: Attempted again on Dante.
  • Mama Bear: She gets pissed when Dante starts kicking her eggs around like footballs.
  • Meaningful Name: Named after the monster from Greek myths. Echidna's name meant "she-viper", and she was the mother of various other monsters including the Chimera and (humorously enough) Cerberus. This explains her appearance and Mama Bear tendencies.
  • Snakes Are Sexy: Her humanoid form, maybe?
  • Vagina Dentata: It doesn't help that the mouth of her serpentine form folds back to resemble a Venus Flytrap when she reveals her true self.
  • Villainous Valor: She really cares for her children. And her forest.


Sanctus

"2,000 years ago... the Dark Knight Sparda, turned against his demon bretheren and took up his sword for the sake of mankind. Though despite his brave efforts in our names, I fear some have forgotten the great truth of that great sacrifice."

The Vicar of Sparda, Sanctus is the leader of the Order of the Sword (and by proxy, Fortuna). He is a kindly and benevolent man who is praised and loved by his subjects. In the middle of one his Sparda-centered sermons, Dante swoops in and kills him, setting off the events of the game.

Shortly afterwards, he is revived via the Ascension ceremony. It is revealed that he is mastermind of the Order's plot to conquer the world using the vast power of The Savior. He lures Dante to Fortuna by using the Yamato to open up Hellgates so that he can use Dante as The Savior's core, but switches his plans when he kidnaps Kyrie to instead goad on Nero. While he does gain immense power thanks to the Sparda sword, Dante and Nero work together to quell his goal of world domination.

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