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Devil May Cry: Vergil's Clothes

Warning: self-indulgent headcanons and rambling to follow. Tw for very brief mentions of violence against children (this is Vergil we're talking about here and I don't think he's had a good time).

I'm thinking again about how Vergil is wrapped in so many layers of clothes. Yes Vergil being so gussied up is an aesthetic treat but why is he like this?

On that day, the day of the fire, he was attacked, stabbed to within an inch of his life and turfed out of his home - and his family, or so he thought - wearing a shirt, shorts and boots. Suitable for a life on the run and on the streets it was not. It makes sense that once he was able he would dress in sturdier clothes for travelling, fighting demons and inclement weather alike.

We don't know the details of Vergil's later childhood years but I don't think the DMC universe is so different to ours that we should assume it is different than for real vulnerable street children. (Barring the eternal threat of demons hunting the blood of Sparda - but the parallels between them and real human traffickers and perpetrators of violence - physical, mental or sexual - against children are a whole other matter to consider.)

There was some information saying he was raised in isolation or in hell but I don't think that was confirmed as canon and still lacks any kind of detail. So how did young Vergil survive? Was he taken in? It strikes me that kind of situation may not have lasted long if he was hunted... Did he find sympathisers willing to support him?... Did he steal?... Did the mighty Son of Sparda have to beg for socks and bread? What a treasure trove of humiliating memories for such a proud and haughty man, pre-packaged and ready to be used against him by anyone wishing to cause him pain (looking at you Mundus). Somehow I doubt he immediately learned how to glamour-up a new outfit a la Trish's technique without guidance but it would have been helpful.

When we see Vergil in DMC3 he is dressed for the party: that beautiful, vivid blue battle coat with its gold lining and thorns/vine motif, the snakeskin trousers and belt combo, the boots and of course the infamous ascot scarf...

However he got them, to me it feels like a statement. "I'm not hiding any more." Chin jutted out, frown between brows, you can see me and I am untouchable. You have shown me no mercy, see how strong and unforgiving I am now. Who is that message for... the demonic legions hunting him or the scared little boy who had to grow up too quickly? Denial (like many behaviours) can be a useful emotional self-defence mechanism until it takes you too far down a dangerous path and reality catches up with you.

... and despite the overt flair and flamboyance if you look past the jewel colours he's pretty well wrapped - especially if you compare his outfit with Dante's. I know I know, in his defence Dante was rudely interrupted by Arkham's invitation and jumped right into action, but even so their clothes mimic their mannerisms. Vergil's? Stoic. Upright. Inviolable. Closed off. Separate. Alone. Lonely?

We know what "clothes" Vergil wears next. Armour: dark, constricting, binding, hopeless. Eventual escape - but not rescue.

So now imagine surviving the unsurvivable only to find yourself crumbling apart from the inside, knowing no matter how many cloaks or rags you wear you can't hide this time when the monster is inside your skin. A time to mourn then, the colours muted, darker, but an attempt to reclaim "oneself" - whatever that looks like after being torn apart. The thorns return and his own colour, but not the sparkling blues that almost glowed in the darkness of Temen Ni Gru. Perhaps a more grown up outfit for a man who didn't really live through all of the years he has been alive but survived them none-the-less. Scars, tattered coat-tails and all.

V. V, V, V... who didn't initially choose the outfit he wore but seemed to choose to keep wearing it despite spending a month surrounded by abandoned clothes stores or at least homes. Surely he could have pilfered some more sensible or logical devil hunting threads, unless he felt he didn't need to. Metaphorically cloaked by the support of his nightmares, maybe? (Or maybe he felt like your average run-of-the-mill demons wouldn't be as interested in getting their claws into him - and besides, what could they possibly do to him that hadn't been done before?) Dangerous bravado for someone so physically weak, a reminder of whom he came from.

Urizen, containing Vergil's lust for power and propped up by the skills he valued at the time of his Yamato-induced schism - power and strength, physical and demonic. In self preservation and to become stronger he armoured himself with the Qliphoth tendrils and used them to take the blood of human innocents. Take, take, take. Why shouldn't he take when so much has been taken from him? His outermost armour and shield, the faithful friend he carried and was protected by throughout those formative childhood years - Yamato. He eats the Fruit and sheds the armour - why would it be necessary now? Again, he feels untouchable, unbreakable, strong (using his own somewhat limited definition of the term). He loses of course because he is incomplete - V had strength too though it manifested in different ways. The strength to overcome, the strength to do whatever it takes to survive and the strength to ask for help (although perhaps that is debatable, since he acted at times as though he thought he was in control and manipulating those foolish enough to help him).

Even after reforming as Vergil and meeting Dante atop the Qliphoth nothing seems to have changed. Of course we know from Visions of V that a lot has changed. The way Vergil feels is laid bare for us to see and Vergil regains some parts of himself that he lost all of those years ago... not only that day but throughout the following years where his only option was to survive.

But no open-necked Henley, no forearms on show, still wrapped in those layers. Another armoured vest (sleeveless?) zipped and buttoned to within an inch of his life (and chin - those animations don't exactly make it look comfortable). The other devil hunters in the series seem much happier casually flashing their skin - midriff, cleavage, abs and ass cheeks aplenty - so what makes Vergil any different, other than his antagonist status? (Maybe I'm thinking too deeply and it's purely fan-service.)

So, still looking for protection, still hiding, still afraid of appearing (or being) anything other than untouchable? Still protecting his vulnerable core from anyone or anything that would harm him?

Recovery from trauma is an ongoing process, not something that can be "fixed" within the scope of a game, or a year, or a decade, nor can people be "fixed" to become the same person they once were. But people can grow and become something more and find life worth living again. So maybe one day we'll get to see all three descendants of Sparda with their coats on the ground and hearts on their sleeves, sparring for fun as a family.

Tldr: something something a self-defence mechanism against the entire world something

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If you made it to the bottom of this self-indulgent ramble then kudos to you! So many thoughts, so difficult to articulate and so few words... and there are so many tangents I could go off on but I won't since we somehow made it to a conclusion. Sometimes you've just got to let it out 🎶

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Night Before Dawn

Final Part 19

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Nerevar Moon-and-Star prints | patreon (print club is Dark Brotherhood themed for this month!!)

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I need to take a moment to appreciate Ogata's artwork for DMC because what did they put into that artstyle oh my god (also I have a bunch of the art they made when they first started to work on Visions of V and I want to share the ones I have saved)

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Demonstrating the rope dart (繩標; sheng2biao1)

[eng by me]

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2-61

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No motivation?

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My baby's got a gun, it goes

Boom, boom, crack, ga-ga-ga-ga, boom, boom

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Cyberpunk Necromancer

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2-60

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I draw the dad

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Halsin in Golden Hour

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Nero

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i pray to vengeance on the sixth string of a guitar

(from this weeks speed draw :3)