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therosefrontier · 9 months ago

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TWST Family Lore: Heartslabyul Part 1

As a fanfic writer, the family question has been coming up a lot for me with these guys, especially with me wanting to potentially actually write these unseen family members that get mentions thrown out there, so I started collecting information, and then, I thought I'd make a post about it! This first part is just Heartslabyul, about their family members and what we know about them (that I could find, anyways), plus some of my thoughts/guesses. This very well might not be exhaustive, but maybe if I see something more I'll add on!

That said! Spoiler warning! I am including info from various vignettes, card voicelines, and events, including JP server only cards, but I will try to avoid too many specific JP event story spoilers (which in this post is pretty much just a lot of White Rabbit). I include main story stuff from book 1 and also the first part of book 7 (which is out in EN), but nothing from the rest of book 7 which is out in JP. Which probably doesn't have anything Hearts-related anyways (I do not know)? I might be waiting for the rest of book 7 to come out before posting a Diasomnia edition to this, though...

So anyways! Let's get to it!

ACE TRAPPOLA

He has an older brother (seven years older than him, as mentioned in his school uniform vignette), whom he seems to be fairly close with. We also have mention of his dad, but so far, as far as I can tell, there is mention of no one else. He does mention his parents in the plural once: in his ceremonial robes voicelines, he says that "I think my brother was happier than my parents when we found out I made it into this school." We also know that his brother was a student at NRC himself and was also in Heartslabyul, which may very well be one reason for his enthusiasm at his little brother getting into the same school. At the freshmen orientation ceremony, Ace shows no surprise to getting chosen for Heartslabyul, assuming that he'd end up in the same place as his brother (Ace robes vignette).

But first, Ace's dad! He gets mentioned in his birthday boy vignette. He is not a mage (implying that, perhaps, Ace and his brother get their magic from their mom's side? As it does appear to be a genetic thing of some sort according to some mentions, but also, it can skip generations, as is seen with Epel), but he is really good at old-fashioned magic of the sleight-of-hand variety. When asked what got Ace into sleight of hand by Yuu for the birthday interview, he says it'd be his dad, who was "ridiculously good" at it.

(image credit: Songstress Studios)

Ace goes on to say that he learned the "nuts and bolts" of it from his brother, whom he believes was also inspired by their dad, and he also says that whenever he visits home, he and his brother will show off to each other and challenge each other to spot the trick!

Ace also talks about his brother in relation to learning tricks in his dorm uniform vignette. He shows sleight of hand tricks to his dormmates, and when Riddle shows surprise and awe over the 'pick a card' trick he's definitely never seen before, Ace says that he reacted in pretty much the same way when his brother first showed it to him. When asked about his brother, Ace says that he "started playing around with cards for funsies" while he was a student, and Ace later learned from him, but not directly. He never gave away the secret, but Ace learned by watching him. (And he learned well, too! Ace has been shown to be very good at this, also coming up notably in the Fairy Gala IF event, for instance).

(image credit: RedAngel)

Earlier, Cater had asked Ace to show him the secret, and Ace made a deal with him for it since he'd never do it for free, and after hearing Ace's story, Cater guesses that Ace's mentality of never giving away anything for free could have come from his brother.

It also seems that Ace's brother was absolutely the type to tease him. In his birthday boy vignette, Ace tells a story of how on his birthday, his brother gave him a box with a fancy watch inside, which got Ace all excited, but then he clarifies that the watch was *his* watch, not Ace's. Ace's gift was the box. His brother afterwards fills the box with candy, but Ace was not amused.

And in other notes:

He is bad at cooking, according to Ace, who says he "doesn't know a cake from a steak" (school uniform vignette).

He taught Ace how to "kill time in the dorms" (school uniform vignette).

He took a theme park management internship in his fourth year at NRC, and he's continued to work there after graduation (Book 7, Chapter 4).

(Also, this thing about the theme park might be a reference, maybe?? In the Tokyo DisneySea park, there was this "villain recruiters" show that ran from 2015 to 2018, featuring original minions of various Disney villains who would make a pitch to invite guests to join the "Villains' World," and there was a Queen of Hearts card soldier character named Jack Heart, whose costume design does resemble Heartslabyul's! And he does the heart thing with his hands like Ace does in his official art! So, might have been inspiration? Anyways, this tumblr post by ceeyuin666 has a nice summary of it so there).

Anyhow, back on track and back to the school uniform vignette, Ace mentions how before he came to NRC, his brother would "take him about everywhere," which does seem to imply they spent a lot of time together, and he also seems to have been a big influence on Ace. For better or worse :). In this vignette, Ace does a favor for Trey in exchange for a slice of cherry tart, when tips for the history test were what he really wanted, a second motive Trey totally expected, and when asked if he was lying about loving cherries so much, Ace said that he wasn't: his brother told him "the most convincing lies are sprinkled with a dash of truth." Knowing Ace, Trey is not surprised.

(anyways I really want to meet this guy so please Ace hometown event please!!)

DEUCE SPADE

(translation credit to Ekala on Youtube!)

He has no siblings and was raised by his single mother, whom we have actually met! In the JP server, anyways! She shows up in Deuce's hometown event, the White Rabbit Festival. So, we have a name! Meet Dilla Spade (or Dilah? Dira? Deela?)! Romanization isn't clear yet; I'll just say "Dilla" for now. Also, we find out she's a delivery truck driver for the thematically-named White Rabbit Delivery company.

Deuce is shown to have been very close to his mom growing up, noticeable enough to the point that his old middle school friends teased him for it and called him "childish" (starsending vignette). We find early on that this is an important part to his story—when Deuce was in middle school, he was acting like a delinquent: skipping school, disrespecting teachers, being reckless and getting into fights. Then, one night, he overheard his mom talking to his grandma (only mention of his grandma that I know of, but, noted that she's in the picture too!), and he could tell that she was crying. She was feeling like a failure of a mother, and said that "maybe she never should have tried to raise him herself." Deuce, however, doesn't blame her at all. Seeing her like that really shook him up, and he resolved to "never do anything to make her cry" again. This is his motivation for wanting to be an honor student; he wants to be the opposite of what he was before and prove himself. He wants to be "someone she can be proud of."

As far as I know, we don't have any mention of Deuce's father or what happened to him. From context and with what his mom said on the phone that day, she might have been a single parent from the start, with the father never being in the picture.

Deuce, in talking to Silver during Silver's Wish in the Starsending event upon Silver mentioning his father in his wish, talks about his mom and how she raised him as a single parent, saying "I know she's had her share of hard times... So I just want her to be happy now. I'd love for her to live a long life." In chapter 10 of the event, Deuce wishes to be a police officer, specifically a magic marshal, which is a hard job to get, saying that he is "sure my mom will worry a lot less if I get a respectable job." He also talks about this in his event vignette! He reveals that upon getting a bad reputation at home, people stopped trusting him, and they'd accuse him of things he didn't do, but if he said he didn't do it, there were always two people who believed him: his mom and the neighborhood police officer. The officer would always come by to talk to him and hear him out, and both he and his mom were very grateful for that. Deuce says that if he could be like that, maybe his mother wouldn't worry so much, so he decided that he wanted to be a police officer.

At the end of the event, in chapter 12, Dilla calls Deuce in excitement over the falling stars in the sky. In response to Deuce saying that yes he saw it, because he's a Stargazer, his mom replies that "Night Raven College couldn't have asked for a finer Stargazer than you." And she says she's proud of him and it's really sweet :)

And then he starts crying happy tears :)

Anyways! Deuce's character arc can be a whole essay in itself, so back to his mom! Some of the stories we got include:

"Battlefield" Sales Shopping. Dilla would bring Deuce with her when shopping limited-time sales, which she seemed to seek out actively. Deuce recounts spending "forever" thumbing through pamphlets looking for sales, and Dilla would then coax him into coming with her, saying things like "Deuce is so strong, and can carry a lot." Deuce remembers getting shoved around a lot by the other customers, and so, he takes his sales quite seriously today (school uniform vignette, new year's vignette).

Spring cleaning! Or, winter cleaning? Dilla and Deuce would go on a cleaning frenzy after the holidays and before the new year, because “if the house is clean, we’ll feel renewed too” (new year’s voicelines)

In his apprentice chef vignette, Deuce recalls how recently, his mom got sick with a cold but didn't tell him until she was better. This made Deuce sad, because he wished she would depend on him a little more when she was struggling, so he was motivated to learn to cook so he could be more dependable.

Also in his apprentice chef vignette, Deuce says that he did help his mom "a little" with cooking back home and knew how to dice vegetables, and the ghost chef was impressed by his skills! So she seems to have taught him well.

In her own words she claims that she is not very good at cooking, but she does know a lot of egg dishes, because Deuce likes them (White Rabbit, 2-4)

She would bring Deuce to the office sometimes, so her coworkers know him (White Rabbit, 3-10). In the event, they were a little nervous around him at first but then were surprised to find how different his behavior was now compared to middle school, and they complimented him on getting into NRC.

She made Deuce a bunny outfit for the White Rabbit Festival long ago, saying that Deuce was complaining over not having anything special to wear, and she didn't have the money to make or buy an outfit, but she asked her coworkers for some spare fluff and made it work. She looks back on this fondly, saying she was just happy to see Deuce having fun at the festival. (chapter 6)

She is great with cars, but terrible with electronics (White Rabbit Festival, birthday boy vignette). Deuce has to show her how to do stuff and recounts “fixing” home devices by simply changing the batteries, and he is the one to set up appliances at home, as she refuses to read instruction manuals. She only uses her smartphone for calls and pictures. Dilla calls cars "trusted partners" but says that electronics are too “self-important” (White Rabbit, Chapter 2-6).

In this scene, Dilla also praises Deuce in front of his friends for "fixing" so many electronic things around the house, which embarrasses Deuce as he does not think it was that big of a deal. She also mentions embarrassing stories like she knows full well what she's doing, teasing in a very affectionate kind of way.

I do wonder if Dilla dragging Deuce onto shopping trips all the time was in part her way of finding ways to spend time with him. She really seems to care about him a lot, and quality time is something that means a lot to her, but perhaps she also struggles with connecting and really getting through to him. In White Rabbit, she mentions sadly how she used to take Deuce to the festival every year, but then he lost interest. Deuce sees this as normal, but it seems there were some growing pains there.

Also on another note which I honestly just find funny, there is a point in White Rabbit where Dilla is worried about Deuce having gotten hurt, and he says it's fine because he's "used to it," and she's just like...I don't how I feel about this but I support you! (sorry Dilla, your son's a budding shounen protagonist and his school's a disaster magnet. He's going to get so used to this haha)

One more thing we really get to see from the event, Dilla definitely seems to have nerves of steel, too. Not revealing too much about what happens, she doesn't back down from this gang that is harassing her festival stall that her coworkers are terrified of, and then joins in with the idea to challenge them without hesitation. Deuce seems to allude to this when introducing Epel, saying that he thinks they'd get along because Epel has "grit and iron courage," as if he sees his mom the same way.

Going back to Deuce's story at the beginning...I feel like this is pretty significant, too. The impression I get from all of this is that she's scrappy and resourceful, strong-willed and vigorous, someone who'll keep an easy sense of humor and a smile in the face of a challenge... but also, she's someone who will bend over backwards to hide her struggles, such as when she hid her being sick with a cold from Deuce. Which is to say, she doesn't seem like the type to be brought to tears easily. This being just speculation on my part, but what if, that day Deuce overheard her on the phone, that was the first time Deuce really saw her break down like that? His mom, the strongest person he knows, the one always keeping up a smile? Although, in the background, she probably hid so many of the struggles she did have? Just saying, it'd have a lot of impact, I'd think...realizing the turmoil he put her through to get her like that...

But that said, I think it's important to note that she cares about him a lot, and she is proud of Deuce and who he's become, and I don't think that hinges at all on him becoming an honors student. Deuce struggles to try to make himself more reliable, but Dilla says as much in White Rabbit: he doesn't have to "go overboard." It doesn't have to be complicated. She just wants him to live life and be happy, simple as that. And also he could come home every once in a while, too :)

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst lore #twst family lore #ace trappola #deuce spade #anyways I am very invested in all of these people now #deuce's relationship with his mom giving me so many feelings #it's so sweet #and I'm also sobbing for them both :')#maybe one of these days I will write that Deuce essay #on top of all the other things I want to write #anyhow in other news I'm serious about wanting to meet Ace's brother #he sounds like such a gremlin #I love him already XD

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fluffypichu876 · 1 year ago

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DMC bosses ranked by difficulty

Alright, I have finally finished it. My tierlist ranking the bosses from every DMC game based on their difficulty! (except for DMC2 and the reboot. I haven't played the latter, and DMC2 is not worth replaying xD)

The list is mainly based on my personal experience with each game on DMD (and the difficulties below it). Here it is!

You might have noticed that the DMC5 Dante bossfight is not there. That's because it's been a while since I last played as Vergil, and I don't remember the finer details of that fight. If I had to place him somewhere based on my flimsy memory though, he'd probably be next to his DMC4 fight.

Replaying these worderful games and making this list while I did so was lots of fun! If you'd like to make your own tierlist, feel free to ask me for the link on Tiermaker! (I'll add the link on the post if demand is high) But like I said above, it lacks the DMC2 and DmC bosses, so if needed, you'll have to add these yourself.

I also wrote down my thoughts on each boss down below, alongside some advice for the bossfights! It ended up a bit longer than I expected, though xD

(very long text below!)

My thoughts on each boss, from easiest (low tier) to hardest (top tier):

- Tier 1: Too easy

Mundus 3 (DMC1): He can barely even attack you. Just spam Ifrit and activate DT to finish him quickly.

The Savior (DMC4): You don't need much skill to fight this boss. Use Trickster to easily avoid his punches. If you're impatient like me and would like to end this boring boss as quickly as possible, use Distorted Real Impacts on his chest crytal once it's possible.

Phantom 2 (DMC1): This fight is optional and can be skipped by entering any door in the hallways. But even if you decide to fight him, just parry his fireball attack a few times, which isn't too hard to do once you get the timing.

Dante 1 (DMC4): He's a tutorial boss. Naturally, it's not very difficult. On DMD, he feels more like a little taste of Dante 2, but even so it's a pretty chill battle.

Qliphoth Roots (DMC5): This game's tutorial boss (Urizen doesn't count). As expected, it's a pretty chill fight. There's plenty of room to dodge the roots and they're pretty slow when attacking.

Doppelganger (DMC3): This boss is very easy. Doppelganger only attacks you if you're right beside him, which is rare unless you actively try to be near him (he also has a ranged attack but it's very easy to dodge). Use multi-hit attacks like Prop or Revolver to quickly activate the lamps in the room. Time it right to stun Doppelganger for a little while. If the whole room is lit, the boss will be stunned for a pretty long time, so feel free to bully him :)

- Tier 2: Not that bad

Containment Room (DMC4): One of the worst bossfights ever made. Despite that, it's (thankfully) not that difficult. Well-timed Snatches and Busters will quickly destroy the screen and kill a few Gladius. Keep your eyes open and ears sharp for the Gladius's strikes and for the electricity on the ground.

Griffon (DMC5): The first familiar to be fought in Mission 18. Griffon is not that threatening when he's fighting alone. He can be stunned very easily with either Kalina Ann, and Round Robin, his scariest move (for me at least), is only used immediately after he recovers from a Stalemate. His Double Check can get in the way during Nightmare's bossfight, but relocating out of its way (or staying on ground/jump-cancelling depending on its height) should help avoid it.

Shadow (DMC5): The second familiar you'll fight in M18. The big kitty is generally stronger than Griffon, but just as easy to stun with the Kalina Ann(s). Hedgehog is a very scary move, with plenty of range and lots of damage potential. Like Griffon's RR, however, Shadow will only use it once, immediately after it recovers from a Stalemate, so keep an eye for that. During Nightmare's bossfight, Hedgehog should be your main worry, but pay attention on Shadow's position to not be hit by its longer range attacks.

Sanctus (DMC4): This pathetic easy bossfight somehow manages to get on my skin and annoy me to no end as soon as I take a single hit. This cowardly old man protects himself with a magic shield, and once you break it, he will begin to run away like a scared chicken. And worse yet, if you don't damage him enough, HE WILL JUST CONJURE HIS SHIELD AGAIN. Ugh. The fight gets easier once he activates The Savior, since countering his punch with the Buster will skip the shieldless phase and allow you to beat Sanctus up to your heart's content :)

Gilgamesh (DMC5): This big thing made of demonic metal is an absolute slug to take down, but it's not a very challenging battle. Just pray you don't make too many mistakes or you'll have to fight it aaalll over again :D

Lady (DMC3): Originally, I wanted to rank Lady on Tier 1, but although you can easily cheese her fight with Quicksilver, you might (for some reason) want to fight her without it. Still, I recommend you do it. This fight can get a little annoying.

Sanctus Diabolica (DMC4): The same as his first fight, but EVEN MORE ANNOYING. His final attack with the Sparda becomes an actual threat on higher difficulties, so do your best to get the Buster timing right so you don't have to fight him again.

Gigapede (DMC3): This boss will only give you trouble if you're trying to get an SS mission rank. Other than that, just enter DT to help you tank any projectiles you can't dodge.

Hell Vanguard (DMC3): The Vanguard is a normal enemy, and one of the tougher ones, but when it fights alone it's not much of a threat. Dodging and parrying its scythe is very easy, and its teleport attacks can be easily dodged by either jumping, rolling/dashing, or (if you're brave) by blocking through Royal Guard.

Berial (DMC4): The first real boss in DMC4, and considering the record of previous DMC games, he's a very easy one. His sword swipes are quite predictable, and he doesn't deal that much damage, even on DMD. He's sightly harder to fight as Dante because he may counter attacks the same way he would try to counter Nero's Buster, meaning you have to pay a bit more attention.

Bael (DMC4): The big frog is pretty slow and quite vulnerable to attacks, so taking him down shouldn't be much trouble. The Rusalka can get a little more annoying, since they are faster and more agile, but they are pretty predictable. Breaking the ice in his back for a Buster opportunity is the only troublesome thing in this fight, especially on DMD.

Dagon (DMC4): Basically the same as Bael, with a few small differences.

Echidna (DMC4): Echidna's attacks are highly telegraphed and can be easily avoided once you learn their signals. She is a bit tougher when you fight as Dante, since he lacks the huge damage from the Buster opportunities and can't approach her as quickly without Snatch. Overall, a fun but not very challenging fight.

Nevan (DMC3): Just listen to her voice lines and dodging everything she throws at you becomes very easy. Be careful about two things though: 1 - Once her vulnerability phase ends, she'll try to engulf you in darkness for some decent damage. 2 - Her kissing attack. She'll only use it at the very end of the battle, but if she catches you, (I think) the only way to escape is by activating DT on the spot.

Nelo Angelo 1 (DMC1): Nelo Angelo looks intimidating, but on his first fight, he isn't very threatening. He has few sword combos, is not very aggressive, and only has one (easy to dodge) ranged attack. He can block you but Ifrit's charged attacks easily break his guard.

Artemis (DMC5): This boss was a lot easier than I expected. Her laser attacks are easy to dodge and her other projectiles can be shot rather quickly, allowing you more mobility on the arena (when playing as Nero). The only threating thing in this fight is Artemis's scream attack, which she performs whenever you stay too close to her. It can be a bit difficult to predict, but it's nothing that Gerbera can't dodge.

Vergil 1 (DMC3): Like in DMC1, Vergil's first encounter isn't very difficult. He only uses his slower attacks and can't go into DT. Dodge his swipes and immediately punish them, temporarely locking Vergil into a sort of "stunned" state. The Summoned Swords will likely catch you off-guard when you play on DMD for the first time, but you'll get used to them in no time.

Goliath (DMC5): DMC5's true first boss, and a pretty good one at that! But a first boss is a first boss, and unless you're Phantom or Cerberus, your fight is probably gonna be easy. Like Berial, Goliath's attacks are very telegraphed, as they are meant to teach you how to dodge. His long range attacks add a bit more difficulty, and on DMD this boss can hit pretty hard, so you have to pay close attention to his body language.

Nidhogg (DMC5): Nidhogg is more annoying than he is difficult. Playing as V is kind of a mixed bag: not many players adapt to his playstyle, myself included, and that certainly doesn't help in this battle. Nidhogg's fight consists of beating three (sometimes four) targets at the same time. If you defeat all of the three worms in the back, Nidhogg will fall down completely vulnerable. It's the best way to fight him, but doing this can be a little hard, since the worms revive pretty quickly.

Elder Geryon Knight (DMC5): A very lenient boss that could have been much more difficult. This was probably done on purpose, since playing as V takes time to adapt to. Your main worry when fighting this boss is to keep Griffon and Shadow alive. This can be difficult since they tend to stay next to their target to attack, and the Knight is full of strong area attacks. Summoning Nightmare helps a lot, since it can cause plenty of damage alongside reviving V's pets.

Mundus 1 (DMC1): For some reason, this fight changes the game's genre from hack-n'-slash to space shooter. Always found that weird. But anyways, Mundus 1 is not really difficult when you learn that all of his attacks track you. Knowing this, just fly around in circles and you're mostly safe. The one exception is the laser beam attack, but that can be avoided with Vortex's I-frames.

Urizen 1 (DMC5): The first (obligatory) Urizen fight is all about memorizing his patterns. His magic attacks always follow a very predictable pattern, and once you known enough about them, the boss gets pretty easy. Pro tip: Mid-air Gerbera parries the fireball attacks really well. Just be careful with your timing.

Nightmare 1 (DMC1): This boss is extremely predictable and its attacks are pretty easy to dodge. If you observe its behavior, you will learn how to manipulate the core it exposes for you to attack (extremely helpful to avoid red cores). The only annoying thing here is its sludge-jaw attack that forces you to fight a previous boss.

Nightmare 2 (DMC1): Pretty much the same as the first fight.

Jester 1 (DMC3): This is the only mandatory Jester fight in the game, and it's kinda easy. The spheres only follow three possible patterns, and they are pretty easy to dodge. Blocking them with Royal Guard is a bit trickier, but certainly not impossible. If you want a free opportunity to bully Jester, just shoot Kalina Ann at him about three times while he's taunting and invulnerable to damage. If done correctly, he'll get "tired" and do nothing against you. This is also true for all of his other fights.

- Tier 3: Difficult but manageable

Leviathan's Heart (DMC3): If you know how to crowd control, this fight shouldn't be a problem. The way I fight this boss is: Spam A&R's Aerial Cross on the right lung, using well-timed Enemy Steps and Air Hikes to remain in the air. Once the heart opens, stand in the middle of the arena and use Royal Guard to block at least two of the red lasers. After that, use a DT Explosion, a Release, and a few more melee strikes for great damage. Rinse and repeat until the fight ends.

Cavaliere Angelo (DMC5): Although Mr. Cavaliere takes a lot from Nelo Angelo's and Credo Angelo's bossfights, I feel like he has the easiest battle between them. There are so many options to counter him, completely trivializing some aspects of the fight. His sword swipes aren't that difficult to dodge, and they can be parried very easily with multi-hit attacks like Revolver or Light Blow. Royal Guard can take time to get used to, but if you're good with it, the fight becomes even easier. I dunno, maybe I had less trouble with this guy because of my previous experience with all the Angelos, but difficult fight or not, this boss will always be a hell lot of fun to fight.

Malphas (DMC5): I really don't like fighting this chicken, but thankfully the bossfight is not terribly difficult. The key is to Enemy Step and Jump Cancel like crazy to stay in the air, allowing you to automatically dodge the majority of Malphas' attacks. Keep an eye for a few spells, though, like the aerial spikes one. When the chicken goes crazy, don't follow the game's advice (unless you really know what you're doing) and dodge every attack with precision. Punch Line allows you to hit the bird safely during this phase. Once it gets tired resume the fight like normal.

Phantom 1 (DMC1): Ah yes, Phantom 1, only the first boss and already this far into the list. What makes this boss difficult is the armor protecting him. That, and he is quite aggressive, always attacking you at any opportunity. Supposedly, the best way to fight him is by jumping on his back and attacking the weak, unarmored spot. I've never managed to make it work though, so I just learned how to dodge and parry his attacks (probably the worst way to fight him xD). Pro tip: Using Stinger on Phantom's mouth while he charges the fireball attack will immediately stun him.

Urizen 2 (DMC5): The second obligatory Urizen fight, and a significant step up in difficulty. Urizen's tentacle attacks have huge hitboxes, and they remind me of Arkham's fight a little too much for comfort… You can dodge them just fine with the wise usage of Trickster, but Royal Guard is just as good. He'll also occasionally summon his crystal to protect himself and cast his magic attacks. Thankfully, SDT does more than enough damage to break the crystal in a matter of seconds. Basically, to suceed in this fight, learn how to properly dodge/block his physical attacks and preserve your SDT for the crystal (or use Quadruple S if possible). Pro tip: Whenever Urizen uses his shockwave attack ("What an eyesore."), you can use RG to stay in place. But a better technique is to first Royal Block the shockwave and then spam the Block button, performing a chain of Royal Blocks and charging your DT like crazy. This should work on all of Urizen's fights (I've only done it on M17 though).

King Cerberus (DMC5): King Cerberus is one of the most fun bosses in the game, but he can be rather difficult to beat, especially because of his huge healthpool, which causes your mistakes to add up considerably as the boss takes plenty of punishment before going down. Learn how to avoid all of his attacks and you should be fine. They aren't too bad to dodge with the default dodge or Trickster, but I recommend using Royal Guard for Release's damage potential, so that the fight doesn't drag on for too long.

Urizen 3 (DMC5): The hardest Urizen fight for sure. The first phase isn't too bad: be careful with Urizen's melee attacks (he mostly kicks the ground, so stay in the air to automatically avoid most of his blows) and pay attention to the ocassional magic attack he may use. The second phase spices things up: He begins to use more magic attacks (such as the annoying purple swords) and becomes more aggressive. But the third phase is where things get real: Urizen begins to summon lasers everywhere, restricting your movement on land, and starts to use some nasty melee attacks that destroy your healthbar with little effort. That one spike attack in particular… So basically, to defeat M17 Urizen, try to fight him mid-air, and keep a good eye on his magic attacks. Take the advantage whenever he falls down to his knees and deal as much damage as possible (Real Impact is recommended). Also, Trickster is your best friend.

Nightmare (DMC5): One of the toughest bosses in this game. By itself, Nightmare is a big, powerful opponent, but it's not fighting alone. Griffon and Shadow are also after your blood. Defeating these two won't help much, since they just revive at full health anyway, so keep your focus on Nightmare itself. Don't drop your watch on the other two familiars, however, and try to not activate their Stalemate accidentally, since that could mean an unwanted Round Robin/Hedgehog to your face. Nightmare will occasionally retreat to heal Griffon and Shadow back to full health. Use this short opportunity to deal as much damage as possible (again, Real Impact is recommended). Pro tip: Before even fighting this boss, make sure to destroy the three hidden Qliphoth roots in the level. Why? Nightmare can use the purple magic spots in the arena to heal about half of its health back, and that sure isn't fun. Destroying the roots will destroy these spots. It will also bring three breakable pillars inside the arena. Trick Nightmare into breaking these to free plenty of green orbs, restoring a big ammount of your healthbar.

Phantom 3 (DMC1): Very similar to Phantom 1. He now has more health and can use a new meteor attack when he has about 1/4 of his health left. This fight can drag on for a bit, so if you're impatient like me, just lure Phantom into jumping and breaking the glass below him, triggering a cutscene and instantly ending the fight.

Cerberus (DMC3): Oh boy, another tough first boss rip hell vanguard i guess. Cerberus can be problematic because his attacks are fast, have big hitboxes, and have barely any tell (especially when he's half health and below). To beat him, you have to play safe and constantly pay attention to his body language. Royal Guard helps a lot in dealing with his fastest attacks (for example, the stupid lunge attack). Pro tip: break the ice in one of his paws, then release a full-charge DT explosion. Cerberus will then fall for a while, completely vulnerable to damage.

Nelo Angelo 2 (DMC1): Nelo uses some new tricks in this fight, such as his unparriable Ifrit-like combo. He is also more aggressive. I'm not sure of this, but it seems that only Nelo 2 and 3 can try to counter you during his block stance, so watch out for that. Other than that, not much changes. Also, the arena has two green orbs in it, which makes the fight a little easier.

Griffon 2 (DMC1): If you don't have a good strategy, this boss is going to be a pain. The arena is small and Griffon spends most of his time flying out of range while his lightning attacks try to fry you, and when he does come down, you have little opportunity to safely attack him. The best strategy I found was to first destroy the bird-kite thing he creates with a well-timed Rolling Blaze, and then, once he comes down, use fully charged Meteors to drain his health away (be wary of the lightning, though).

Griffon 1 (DMC1): This fight is optional if you're on New Game+, since you don't need to re-obtain Ifrit to open the exit door. Griffon alternates between two phases: one in which he flies and summons plenty of lightning, and one in which he lands on the ground to fight you face-to-face. The best strategy here is to grenade-roll while he flies to both dodge the lightning and charge your DT. Once he lands, keep spamming full-charged Meteors at a good distance. Repeat the process until he's dead.

Griffon 3 (DMC1): Here, the strategy above still applies, which is good because this fight can't be skipped. Griffon 3 fights a lot like Griffon 1, so if you're used to that fight, this shouldn't be too problematic. Once Griffon has lost about a third of his health, he will fly very high and be immune to all your attacks. You'll have to use the teleporters in the arena to climb up to the upper floor, which is a pain to do because Griffon keeps spamming his lightning attacks and you're unable to see them until it's too late. Once you manage to get there, shoot with the Grenade Gun and Griffon should go straight down. From now on, the fight is a lot easier. Repeat the Meteor spamming until it's over.

Agnus Angelo (DMC4): The only bossfight in this game that is actually easier when you are controlling Dante (at least for me). What makes Agnus such an annoying boss is the fact that he constantly spawns enemies such as Gladius, Basilisks, and Cutlasses (the fish don't stay in the battle though). These being Buster-gimmick enemies, you'd expect Nero to have a easy time, right? Well, that surely wasn't the experience for me. Nero's Buster animations are kind of long, which means, for example, that you could get a hold of a Gladius, get locked in placed for a second or two, and take a dumb hit from another Gladius, from a Basilisk, or from Agnus himself before even throwing the stupid living sword. Dante's Coyote-A, on the other hand, does Buster's job just as well and way more quickly, thanks to its speed, little endlag, and great stagger ability. God. Other than that, Agnus himself isn't much of a threat. He just flies around using very slow attacks.

Arkham (DMC3): Here he is, the worst bossfight in the history of DMC games. I could give an entire essay on why, but I will make this quick. The first phase is not so bad. I recommend jumping to dodge his badly telegraphed attacks. To deal with the Legions (the fish he summons), use Kalina Ann's blast alongside a few jumps to avoid unnecessary damage. For the second phase, keep holding R1 + forward and spam Spiral and Kalina Ann. Doing this will cause Vergil to spam Rapid Slash (his best attack in this fight). Stop shooting when Arkham becomes red and time your jumps to safely avoid the eel-projectile thingies. With enough patience, this bastard will finally go down.

Credo Angelo (DMC4): Credo's fight is visibly inspired by Nelo Angelo's, and that alone makes him a formidable opponent. For most of the bossfight, Credo's combo attacks will be rather easy to avoid, since he is quite polite and will give good enough warning of his next movement. You can also Buster his spear for generous damage (this can be a bit hard to time, though). However, once he reaches about 1/4 of his health, Credo will get quite frustrated, and much more aggressive. His combos are now faster, stronger, and much less predictable. He can also now use Summoned Swords (not as threatning as Vergil's, thankfully). In conclusion, fight him like you would fight Nelo Angelo or Vergil and you should come out on top!

Vergil 2 (DMC3): This is where Vergil spices up his battle style by a lot. He has Beowulf equipped and can now use his Devil Trigger, which greatly increases his damage, defense, and speed. It also slowly heals him for as long as it's active. He's still pretty manageable though. Pay attention and dodge his attacks with precision. Use your own Devil Trigger to try and knock Vergil out of his DT, otherwise, he'll just heal a lot of health back.

Vergil (DMC5): Mr. Vergil is back, and as expected, he is quite the tough boss, one of the hardest ones in this game, for sure. During the main story, you actually fight two different Vergils: the M19 Verge and the M20 one. They're mostly the same, but with a few, significant differences. M19 Vergil fights a lot like he did in DMC3, except in a much slower pace. His attacks are generally slower and easier to punish, and he gives you plenty of breathing room between attacks. Just don't take risks and strike at the correct moment to beat him rather easily. That is, during the first phase at least. Once his health reaches 2/3 or below, he will enter SDT and become much more agile and aggressive. Like in DMC3, DT Vergil has superarmor and high defense, as well as health regeneration, and unlike that game, it will not go away through the player's input, so attacking Vergil during this state is not a very good idea. SDT will only go away once Vergil finishes his flying divebomb attack, which can be interrupted earlier through certain means (Royal Release is my personal favorite). Once Vergil reaches 1/3 of health, he will summon Doppelganger to assist him. The spectral demon dies pretty quickly, though, so focus your attacks on it. Overall, if you're already used with Vergil's previous bossfights, this one shouldn't be too much trouble. Focus on dodging/blocking his attacks and find the best ways to punish them. M20 Vergil is a little different in certain aspects: his "stunned" state lasts very little, but he can now enter a "super stunned" state that allows Nero to shred his healthbar with a Buster. His SDT lasts much longer, but it no longer has superarmor, and he will only heal a small ammount of health the instant he activates SDT. Continue to fight him like you would in M19, just don't forget to Buster him when the opportunity arises! Pro tip: Break-age Buster Arm does insane damage, trust me.

Dante 2 (DMC4): As Nero, at least, this bossfight can vary between mildly challenging and very challenging. This, of course, depending on how you tackle the fight. I, for myself, went for the somewhat cowardly strategy of just abusing Snatch and Buster. It's quite simple really, just wait for Dante to enter endlag and go for a nice Snatch, and quickly Buster before he breaks out of it. This should work for good damage for the majority of times. If you try to be more stylish, though, Dante can get problematic, since he perfectly reads your every move, meaning, if you're not careful, you aren't landing a single hit on him.

Jester 2 (DMC3): This fight won't differ from the first one until Jester has half his health left. Once this happens, he'll summon a huge living ball, making it more difficult to damage the clown. But the biggest problem is that, once the ball is summoned, Jester will become more aggressive and add new elements to his basic sphere attacks, making them much harder to avoid. The best advice I can give is to try to damage him as much as possible before he enters this phase.

Nightmare 3 (DMC1): Once again, Nightmare refuses to change its moveset, but don't commemorate yet. If you weren't careful on the last two fights, its cores might be glowing red, which means it will take a lot less damage from your attacks. You can still beat it like this, but it's going to take a while. Once it reaches a third of its health, Trish will show up. Don't worry though, all she does is use a very slow lightning attack. But what pisses me off about this boss is that once you "kill" it, it doesn't actually die and enters a desperation phase. Here, it's pretty much impossible to attack the core up close without taking huge damage. Air Raid is probably the best way to deal with it.

Geryon (DMC3): Geryon is a big test of patience, and dear god I have none of it. Swordmaster is the best style here, since Real Impact + Tornado deals plenty of damage to the horse. If used right, you can kind of get Geryon stuck in a loop by hitting him just after he recovers from falling down.

- Tier 4: Pretty tough

Damned Chessboard (DMC3): This bossfight is a matter of learning Royal Guard. If you taunt and perfectly block the Damned Queen, and use the Gauge to Release on the King, the fight becomes much easier. But without Royal Guard, this is one of the worst fights in the whole game. Pro tip: use the I-Frames from a jump or a dodge-roll to make blocking the Queen easier and safer.

Beowulf (DMC3): Beowulf has plenty of health, so it kinda becomes an endurance match on DMD. The only reason I put him on Tier 4 instead of 3 is his second "phase" (when he's between 1/3 and 2/3 of his health), in which he just runs around spamming Volcano and lowering down cages. There's barely any opportunity to safely strike him during this. If you can manage to Just Release on Beowulf's eye, he'll take a lot of damage, greatly shortening the fight. Pro tip: don't shoot any guns at him on the third "phase". If you do he's very likely to use the dreaded feather attack.

Jester 3 (DMC3): Pretty much the same as Jester 2, except now he takes even longer to die. You're gonna have to endure that second phase for a little longer now. Getting good RNG helps a lot.

Agni & Rudra (DMC3): For some reason I have a lot of trouble with this boss, mostly because I suck at dealing with two bosses at the same time. But anyways, the best way to fight these guys is through Cerberus, more specifically through Revolver. This attack parries their sword strikes with ease. Once a brother has been parried 4 times, he'll lose the body and take more damage from your attacks (great opportunity to release DT explosion and the Royal Gauge) before he gets back up again. Royal Guard is a great complement in this fight, blocking anything that Revolver can't. Try to balance your strikes to kill both brothers at about the same time, because fighting only one body with both swords gets pretty problematic. Overall, I think most players would put Agni & Rudra on a lower tier, but I died a lot before I got the hang of it so…

Mundus 2 (DMC1): The Prince of Darkness lives up to his reputation as one of the hardest final bosses possibly ever made. Even so, I still wouldn't put him on a higher tier. This guy only gives you trouble until you memorize all of his attack patterns. Once you do that, he's not much of a problem. On lower difficulties, jumping on the flying platforms and slashing him with the Sparda while on DT is the fastest way to kill him. But on DMD, you will probably want to take it safe and attack him from long-range with Round Trip and the Sparda's DT shots. Pro tip: Kill the lava dragon that Mundus occasionally summons to restore a generous amount of your health.

- Tier 5: REALLY hard

Nelo Angelo 3 (DMC1): Most DMC fans seem to agree that Nightmare 3 and Mundus 2 are the hardest bosses this game has to offer, but I disagree. Sure, these two are challenging, but they're extremely predictable, and once you get their pattern, it becomes pretty easy. Nelo Angelo 3 is not like that. This man is very aggressive and will not let you boss around him. He will guard your attacks and constantly try to counter them. His summoned swords can be a nightmare if you don't learn how to dodge/destroy them. You can stagger him, but it doesn't last very long. And finally, the camera just sucks. This was the most troublesome boss in all of DMC1 for me, but even so, I think he's the most well-designed one in the entire game. It's a pretty fun fight!

- Tier 6: May God help you

Vergil 3 (DMC3): The best consolation I can give you is that, once you beat this boss, everything else looks much easier in comparison. Vergil 3 is THE hardest boss in this whole franchise. In fact, I created Tier 6 before starting DMC3 DMD already thinking that he would probably be the only one here. There's a lot happening in this fight, but the biggest reason Vergil 3 is so tough is what I call his desperation phase. Once he has 1/3 of his health left, Vergil will go absolutely insane, and begin to frequently use Super Devil Trigger and Judgement Cut End. The first one is a variation of normal DT, in which Vergil either spams Helm Breaker or uses his Yamato-Helm Breaker-Stinger combo. On DMD he is guaranteed to mix in Summoned Swords. Unlike normal DT, Vergil cannot be knocked out of Super DT. You'll have to dodge everything he throws at you until he gets tired. Judgement Cut End is a series of normal Judgement Cuts that follow three possible patterns. The problem is, only one of these patterns can be consistently dodged. The others are almost pure RNG. But the absolute cherry on top is that both Super DT and JCE heal Vergil, meaning that in the final moments of the fight you have to take every single opportunity you can to damage Vergil, otherwise he just heals everything back (especially if you get the unlucky scenario where he just spams JCE to his heart's content). Oh god. So yeah, Vergil 3 is a great boss, but Jesus Christ they didn't have to make it so damn difficult on the last 1/3 of the fight.

If you read all of this, thanks for listening to my rambling xD.

#jesus christ formatting lists on this website sucks #big shoutout to notepad++ for helping me #really helpful text and coding freeware #10/10 reccomended #but anyways i loved making this tierlist #i should do tierlists more often #a funny thing i noticed is that as the bosses become more difficult my advice becomes even longer xD #probably because tougher bosses tend to be more complex #or maybe i just have some hard feelings about them #also really fitting both nelo angelo 3 and vergil 3 are alone on their respective ranks #that guy can get really serious when he wants to #boy this is my biggest post yet #i'm surprised tumblr allows this many words in a post #i mean some people post their fanfics here so i guess it's not that surprising...#devil may cry

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