Vergil (Devil May Cry)

Spoiler Warning: Information regarding Vergil that is not available until the end of the first game will be discussed here.

Vergil is the twin brother of Dante and one of the two sons of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda. His real name is Vergil, but was later changed to Nelo Angelo, which is the product of a transliteration error of "Nero Angelo" meaning " Black Angel" in Italian. Nelo Angelo is a boss featured in the video game Devil May Cry. Vergil appears in the prequel, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. Vergil is, exactly like his brother a hybrid. His lineage is divided between being half Devil and half human. This gives him abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Unlike his brother, he is more serious about his training, and is the better swordsman of the two brothers.

Contents

1 Origin

2 Arsenal and Powers

2.1 Devil May Cry weapons
2.2 Devil May Cry 3 weapons

3 Philosophy and Speculation

4 See also

Origin

Due to his desire for power, Vergil has turned his back on mankind, and even his brother. At the end of Devil May Cry 3, Vergil is trapped in the Demon realm, and realizes that Mundus is waiting for him. He decides to fight him. However, due to the previous battle with Dante, he is weakened and eventually defeated by Mundus and brainwashed in order to serve him. This is how he becomes Nelo Angelo.

Arsenal and Powers

Devil May Cry weapons

In Devil May Cry, Nelo Angelo wields a huge sword, almost twice the size of the one his brother wields. This is basically the only weapon he uses.

Devil May Cry 3 weapons

In Devil May Cry 3, he is the owner and user of the Yamato sword, which is the same sword that LDK wields in Devil May Cry. Vergil does not use any handguns or any other kind of firearms. It is said that he does not believe them to be the true way of the warrior. Vergil has a Devil Trigger, which is something his brother also has. This is a Demonic power that can be triggered by unleashing the otherwise dormant Devilish force inside him. He also uses the Beowulf knuckles, and the Force Edge .

Philosophy and Speculation

One may notice that Dante and Vergil share their names with Dante Alighieri and Publius Vergilius Maro, poets of epic works. In Dante Alighieri's work The Divine Comedy, Dante (the author) is guided through hell by Virgil (the roman poet), and heaven by Beatrice Portinari, Dante's idealistic vision of the perfect woman. Dante and Vergil share a likeness to the characters in the poem; Vergil as Nelo Angelo continuously confronts Dante as Dante delves further into Mundus' castle (Hell), egging him on and drawing him closer to Mundus himself. Trish could be seen as a parallel to Beatrice, his saviour that helps him finally defeat Mundus and escape the castle. Mundus is of course Satan, trapped at the center of his castle, and some of the enemies and areas in the game could be seen as metaphors for the concentric circles of hell and their populaces described in Alighieri's work.