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strawberrymilkster · 11 months ago

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Energy in DmC: Devil May Cry

So I previously made a post about weapons in DmC (and it was supposed to include a section about energy) but… I accidentally posted before it was finished?

So, I don’t use tumblr very much (I had it uninstalled for a while), and I don’t know very well how to navigate it. Anyway, I wanted to talk about the weapons and energy because I feel like they are overlooked a lot even within the reboot fandom.

I was gonna type a huge thing out in the DmC Brotherhood Server, but I figured I wanted something that could be “linked” so I could use it in different occasions/ chats. So I redownloaded tumblr to make that

I typed as far as I got in the last post then accidentally hit “post” and immediately tried to delete the posting process and bring it up as a draft. But, I’d thought I’d lost it? So I just gave up, uninstalled tumblr, and went off in the discord.

Then, a couple days later, someone was like “hey did you write that post on tumblr?”

And I was like “bro, that posted??”

Anyway, thanks to everyone who read that. Here is the second part before I inevitably delete tumblr again and disappear into the void.

(I don’t know how to like the comments, but I appreciated the nice comments.)

So, the way energy works in DmC: Devil May Cry is… somewhat akin to Bleach (the anime/ manga) but obviously there are significant differences. Not to mention the hollows, which are based on the same poem as Bleach’s were, apparently.

One could also easily see comparisons into that of the Metaverse from Persona 5 (Palaces and distorted desires/ perceptions)

A lot of people don’t really… understand how “energy” or “power” works in DmC. Especially in regards to Lilith and her death. (That entire scene is consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented to begin with, but we should stay focused.)

There is the human world. And then there is an angel realm and a demon realm. The angel and demon realm seem to be at some kind of consistent war. I’m not entirely sure how that works? Their planes may be on a more even level with that of the human realm. So humans aren’t really perceptive of the angelic/ demon realm, but the angels and demons can perceive and interact with eachother. (Perhaps they in spirit are very akin to eachother, somewhat like how Nero and Mundus in the original series are almost angelic in nature. That might explain more how Angelic and Demonic weapons work in limbo.)

If there were ever a sequel to DmC, I’d hope they could shed some more light on the angels perspective and world.

So- humanity cannot directly interact with the demons, but a sort of “in between” plane of existence has been discovered by Mundus and the demons (Limbo), and they use this to extract humanities power through indirect means. This being through propaganda, poisoned Mountain Dew, and directly possessing the humans.

Vergil describes “demon collaborators” or seemingly humans working alongside demon kind consentingly or not so much. We see them in the opening cutscene, pointing at Dante, as he tries to ignore them. But, they are actively dragging him into limbo and calling demonic attention to him. They also appear when Dante and Vergil are discussing the “Nephilim.”

So, the demons cannot really directly do anything to humanity, but from limbo, they can have underlying manipulation and control.

The especially powerful demons can take “human bodies” that can have a real presence in the human world and have more of a foot in humanities door. But, this comes at a great price. We see three powerful demons do this. Bob Barbas, Lilith, and Mundus.

In DmC, the demons have a sort of “atmospherics energy that plays into their designs and powers. The respective demon will be stronger so long as they are in their “palace” though they are still susceptible to death so long as their “human body” is killed.

Bob Barbas

Bob Barbas controls the “digital media.” He has a direct link to the many cameras scattered throughout the city, he loosely reigns over the city’s prison system, and his human form has a political and social death grip on humanity.

This is expressed in the art direction, in that Bob is a floating digital whirlpool of screens that shoots lasers at you. He doesn’t fight you directly. He conceals his human body, and fights you as a digital image. With the “eye” or that which monitors the people, being his weakness. And when you traverse into his “eye” you physically go into live news footage. He’s digital, indirect, and he’s hiding his weakness from you. Not to mention, he’s in a surveillance tower. But with a couple bullets to his “human body” he’s easily disposed of.

Digital media and surveillance is Bobs “domain”

Lilith

Lilith’s big thing in this plot is that she is intentionally written as one of Mundus’ “whores.” Which may seem cruel, but the point is that Mundus doesn’t care about her (in contrast to how Dante values Kat- and Vergil more values what Kat offers. Foreshadowing that Vergil shares certain traits with Mundus that are destructive.)

Anyway, the demon king values Lilith’s “service” through their child more than her. So, you fight the spawn instead of her directly.

Lilith’s speciality aside from being the spawns mother, is clubbing and narcotics. She, akin to the succubus, uses substances to control humanity, primarily various drugs of sorts that she encourages humans to consume at her club. And her Club is her “palace” where reality is blurred the most, humans are most susceptible, and she is the most powerful/ safe.

The club twists and contorts to her will, but she is a coward, who primarily is valued (and seems to value most herself) by Mundus’ spawn. So, she hides herself… within her monstrous child. A reverse narrative on birth, and a mother’s protection. Lilith is vile and would rather put her child on the front lines to protect herself.

Anyway, so Dante can slap Lilith around mid fight. And I think that’s more of a “gameplay” quirk than anything. One of those things that can happen while the player is operating Dante, rather than being explicitly canon that Dante hits her 50 times with a demonic axe (in her human form) and she’s fine.

When Lilith, canonically, is brought away from her domain, the club, she is immensely weakened. And her body can be destroyed just like a normal humans. (It could in limbo as well, she just now doesn’t have the atmospheric power to protect herself) This is why Vergil can shoot her and kill her. She both made the decision to utilize a human body to begin with, and stepped away from her domain as a hostage.

Mundus

Then there is Mundus. We know that he is a lot like Bob and Lilith where if he steps away from the hell gate, he’s in danger. That serves as the source of his power, but overall, his domain is the city. One can be killed in their domain (ex- Bob) but it’s their body that needs to be killed and it’s more conveniently concealed in Limbo.

Despite the hell gate providing an extra layer of protection, the city overall is still his. And a large part of Limbos collective “hive mind” system comes back to him. He’s just always being particularly protective of his human body with the hellgate, though he’s arguably still unfathomably strong away from it- just more susceptible because of his human body.

The city being his domain is seen in that the final fight takes place on top of numerous sky scrapers, as buildings and people are being sucked into Mundus, almost like a vortex. The hellgates destruction serves to throw the balance of the planes out of wack. And Mundus’ city wide power utilizes that to his advantage, building an enormous shield of power with everything that surrounds him.

But, his human body is still just as susceptible as ever. And that’s how he’s killed.

Limbo and Nephilim

I meantioned Limbo being a hive mind, because it is. That’s why it can taunt Dante, and why even small demons can pull Dante in. It’s like a big spiritual consciousness that demons have respective control of depending on their power.

Bob - Digital Media

Lilith - the club

Mundus - the city

But, Nephilim can traverse these planes. Go in and out, and their “human” body is an appearance. They hold the same amount of susceptibility no matter where they are. And that’s very little to begin with, having regenerative powers and just being incredibly powerful overall.

So, Dante’s devil trigger is also a utilization of this. He is quite literally using the same kind of “spacial control” that the three demons use, but he can transport it anywhere. It’s more innate, as a traveler of worlds.

When he wishes, he can expend great force, creating a swirling whirlwind, obliterating gravity, and slowing time. He is bending energy to his will, but, it’s not tied to any respective place. It’s just something he carries with him at all times. DT is just taking full control of the spacial energy around Dante.

Vergil is a bit more… odd? He doesn’t utilize his spiritual energy the same way, he creates a doppleganger. Which is decently representative of the fact that he is “two faced” and doesn’t really have full comfort in himself. He’s all about “ideals” so it would make sense that his use of this energy is to “separate” himself in two. And how big of a plot point the hollows (or other selves) are to him. Not to mention my last point (in the weapons post) of Yamato being a “separator”

A really cool detail I noticed is that when the Nephilim fight in the final mission, it takes place over the whole city. There is an entire view of what the Nephilim fight to achieve. Vergil wants control of humanity, Dante wants absolute freedom. And so their fight is on high ground overlooking the very thing they are fighting over and have created.

Throughout this fight, the sun shines a bright red. But is slowly engulfed by dark, blue storm clouds, the more they fight. And when Vergil unleashes his true power, the ground is struck everywhere by blue lightning, and the red sun is nearly overwhelmed. The lightning storm also appears when Vergil fights his hollow self. Reboot Vergil is quite literally the storm that is approaching.

This is both excellent visual representation (per usual) on Ninja Theories part, but also quite literally the sheer atmospheric power of the Nephilim. When they fight, the world quakes and the weather bends to their wills. It’s so cool.

There’s probably more but I’m gonna conclude here thanks for reading.

#dmc devil may cry #devil may cry #dmc

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strawberrymilkster · 11 months ago

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How weapons and energy work in DmC: Devil May Cry

Happy 11th anniversary to DmC: Devil May Cry. I wanted to discuss some of this games less talked about aspects.

So, in the original DMC series, Rebellion and Yamato are powerful swords both wielded by Sparda, and passed down respectively to Dante and Vergil.

Rebellion was given to Dante, and has the ability to “unite” demon and human. It manifests Dante’s “Devil Trigger” and eventually, through stabbing himself with it, awakens Sin Devil Trigger.

Yamato instead has the ability to “separate.” The blade can supposedly cut through anything, including time and space, allowing Vergil to create traversable “rifts/ portals” and upon stabbing himself with the Yamato, separates his human and demon selves into two. Urizen, and V.

This also plays into symbolism for both of the characters. Rebellion once represented Sparda’s “rebellion” against demon kind, siding with the humans despite all odds and protecting them.

The Yamato more seemed to represent Spardas unyielding power.

Both of these themes play into the narrative of the Sparda twins and their respective ideals, fighting styles, and personalities.

Dante is a rebel in the same way as Sparda, in that he fights for humanity despite his lineage as a powerful demon. And even represents the acceptance of his human side, hence the “uniting” power of rebellion. And, rebellion is a double edged, medieval style sword that he swings around in wide slashes.

Yamato represents Vergils troubles confronting his own duality. He has a hard time accepting that he is half human. And always serves to “separate” himself from his humanity (and other people.) And he wields Yamato more strictly, unleashing almost perfect bursts of extraordinary and unearthly power.

From here I want to explain how these respective weapons and their themes translate into the reboot, how they work, and how that affects the narrative despite the twins not being half human, but rather half demon/ half angel. (Nephilim)

So, Sparda in the reboot wasn’t a savior of humanity. He was still immensely powerful, and rebelled against demon kind, but serves as more of a tragic character than a triumphant one. And, Dante’s empathy for humanity in the reboot comes directly from his experiences in the human world, and his relationship with a human woman (Kat) in opposition to him being biologically part human.

Vergil in the reboot, is still a character who believes that you cannot protect anything without power, and that his lineage entitles him to that power. Though, instead of casting aside his “biologically human” self, he more metaphorically disregards his humanity in spirit. Believing that his very existence is prophetic in nature, and that it is his natural duty and birthright to rule over humanity as a monarch.

Despite being Nephilim, the two swords still represent their respective themes in the reboot.

Dante’s rebellion is against expectations of “a Nephilim.” He takes on a role of humanity’s savior against all odds, with even Spardas legacy not having gone quite that far in this version of the story. A lot more emphasis is put on Dante’s own choices and experiences, and how those decisions lead him to become humanities protector, rather than following in his fathers footsteps, (as savior) or having a biological connection to ground him. It’s all based around strictly morality, experience, and empathy. The story remains centered around Dante’s rebellion all the same, and it is a core part of the entire plot and character design.

Yamato still serves as a “separator” for Vergil in the reboot. Though, not to separate his biological human and demon selves, but to separate himself as a Nephilim from the desires and needs of humanity. He is still disregarding his own humanity, just in the spiritual and moral sense.

So, I wanna discuss in a little more detail how these weapons actually work in the reboot, as well as how energy and magic manifest in the game as well.

Let’s start with Rebellion.

So, in DmC: Devil May Cry, not just narratively, but physically, Rebellion is still the “uniter.” Though, in a slightly different way from the original series.

Rebellion in the original series can transform into “Devil Sword Dante” a more powerful version of the blade. Similar to Sparda’s “Force Edge” blade that can transform into “Devil Sword Sparda”

Aside from this, Dante carries a plethora of other melee weapons. But, they are not Rebellion. They are “Devil Arms” or rather manifestations of other demons powers as weapons, that can be owned and utilized by Dante. Even Vergil can do this.

For example, in DMC3, Dante fights Agni and Rudra and wins. They then essentially acknowledge his power, and willfully surrender their own power to Dante, taking form as two twin blades, that can even speak to Dante as themselves.

Vergil does this with Beowulf, and though Beowulf is not so consensual about giving up his power, Vergil is still able to take Beowulf as fighting gauntlets for himself.

In DmC: Devil May Cry, there are no “Devil Arms.” At least, not in the literal sense.

Because, the demons don’t manifest as weapons- Rebellion is a shapeshifter weapon, and morphs into weapons once it acquires immense demonic power, and the form it takes depends on the user’s subconscious and intent.

Let me explain. Most of the weapons in DmC have a swirling design to them somewhere that resembles rebellions hilt, and it almost seems to represent a “vortex” of sorts, symbolizing Rebellions infinite potential to “transform”

Dante receives three “gifts” from Sparda. All of them have a hilt that is almost identical to Rebellions. And they “spawn” via the summoning sigil engraved into Dante’s back. These gifts are the demonic axe: Arbiter, the angelic scythe: Osiris, and the two pulleys: Ophion (that takes a demonic and angelic form)

It’s implied that Sparda to some capacity once used Rebellion to utilize all of these weapons.

The DMC series has always paid reference to Greek, Roman/ Italian, and Catholic mythology. Especially considering that the series was based off of the “Divine Comedy” written by Dante Alighieri.

Arbiter serves as a reference to Catholic mythology, in that “Arbiters” were initially gods judges of sorts. Given the task of judging humanities morale and faith in god. Often times through excruciating means. The arbiters could be considered sadistic in nature, but were generally considered neither entirely moral or immoral. Roughly speaking.

Osiris got its name from the Egyptian god of the same name. Though Egyptian mythology is far more rare in DMCs lore, it’s worth noting that the original Osiris also served as a “judge” of sorts in his own right. And was at some point cut into many pieces, which may have influenced DmC’s Osiris in being a very “slicey” weapon.

Both Osiris and Arbiter have Rebellions swirling hilt in their design. And it seems as though they both came to represent different sides of Spardas “judgement.” Sparda likely had Arbiter for a long time, but it’s questionable how and when he obtained Osiris. Eva’s spirit may have had a part to play in this, or perhaps he’d obtained it before his rebellion, as a manifestation of an angel he once killed.

The Ophion pulley is two weapons in one, having a demonic and angelic grapple system. The original Ophion was one of the Greek titans, often described as an ancient ruler of the world or “king of heaven” until defeated by Kronos. It’s worth noting that Ophion was often depicted as a serpent, which may have been a factor in the angelic forms design, that looks akin to the head of a serpent. Both of Ophion forms have Rebellions hilt as well.

We then come to the two weapons that Dante acquires for himself later in the game. This being Eryx and Aquila.

Despite the fact that they don’t explicitly have Rebellions hilts, and were not gifts from Sparda, they are still manifestations of Rebellion, and not devil arms of the respective demons they come from. (Succubus and Bob Barbas)

Instead, Dante takes the demonic power that he receives from killing them, and channels them into Rebellion, morphing rebellion into different weapons based around his own perceptions and fighting style.

Let me explain.

Eryx arguably has traits akin to the succubus, but isn’t her “devil arm” we see that this arena is covered in boiling acid (that she creates) and is sort of orangish in color. We also notice that reboot Dante is a bit of a brawler, tending to throw punches. We see this a lot in this fight, there are a couple times Dante will punch Succubus in the face. And even shakes off his hand at one point after doing so.

The fact that Eryx is another manifestation of rebellion is true, but I do have a theory that Dante subconsciously crafted Eryx based on his experience in this fight. The association with acid and orangish color led him to create Eryx’s flames. And his desire to use his fists in combat, but with more power and protection, created the overall design of the fists.

Eryx in Greek mythology, was initially a king who was particularly good at wrestling and boxing. Supposedly being a very prolific fighter until he was bested by Heracles. We can see the swirling design of Rebellion subtly intertwined into the fists design, along the forearm area.

Aquila is the second weapon Dante acquired on his own. This being through Bob Barbas. Notice in comparison that Bobs fight is primarily blue in color, and he has a very indirect means of fighting. He sends lasers at Dante, and specializes in the use of digital media, even in the actual fight. Dante even says “put a spin on this” which, yes is a news anchor pun, but may have been subtle foreshadowing that the weapon Dante would manifest from this battle would be one that would “spin” and be an “indirect” means of fighting.

Aquila initially in Greek mythology, was a magical eagle of sorts that carried Zeus’ thunderbolts, and was sent to “carry” things for Zeus on several occasions in general. The theme of “indirect”ness being present even in the myth. And plays into the fighting style of the blades. They are less overtly designed after Rebellion, but still have swirling designs embedded into them, and their metal seems to have the same shade and texture as rebellion.

Through Eryx’s and Aquilas existence, one can see that Rebellion can manifest on different parts of the body, so long as the user wills it. We even see this with Vergil, who seemingly has a summoning sigil of his own for Yamato. As, when he kicks open the doors in the skyscraper during the Mundus fight, Yamato will manifest both in his hand, or on his back.

The guns in this game are a lot more mysterious. Dante already has Ebony and Ivory at the start of the game. They seem to be purely supernatural weapons, especially considering that they don’t utilize a magazine. Their grips are forever sealed, and never run out of ammo.

One can speculate that they may be a “lesser” form of Rebellions power that can manifest even with Rebellions base form still on Dante’s back. Especially since they have that “swirling” design to them. Or they may have come from an external source like the other guns in this game. It’s not very clear.

Revenant and Kablooey, the other two guns in this game come from Vergil, who seemingly gets them from demons/ demon sympathizers. And at the very least, Kablooey has a real function as a taser in the human world.

So, guns aside and going back to Rebellion. Rebellion still serves as a “unifier” in this game. In that it takes power, stores, and manipulates it as a shifter.

Now onto Yamato

Yamato in the reboot is very akin to its original self. Instead of being a shifter, like Rebellion, it can store demonic energy, but must channel that energy as its katana self. This is why we see Vergil only use the Yamato, even if he’s capable of channeling demonic and angelic energy through it.

The Yamato seemingly can still cut through time and space in the reboot, as he explicitly uses it as a portal at the end of the game.

And his summoned blades are just conjured magic. As- in general, Vergil is proficient in conjuring and manipulating magic- akin to Sparda.

It seems as though magic in this game (and to extents in the original series) are manifestations of energy. Though, through the use of summoning circles, pentagrams, even incantations and all that, one can produce magic, even if human. So long as that human has a connection to the supernatural worlds, like Kat.

Dante doesn’t know how to use this magic how Vergil does, and it seemingly took a decent amount of studying for Vergil to understand it.

Sparda uses magic in the reboot explicitly when he erases the twins memories as children. And Vergil replicates this in “Chronicles of Vergil” when he realizes he’s falling in love with Kat (a human) and chooses to cast away those feelings by erasing both hers and his memories.

We also see that he has drawn/created a magical barrier between himself and the demons when the order is attacked.

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