Vergil

Lore & Background

Vergil's history was significantly altered by Devil May Cry 3 writer Bingo Morihashi, who utilized director Hideki Kamiya's permission to change the character's fate from an apparent childhood death to a living young adult. Named after the poet Virgil from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Vergil contrasts with his brother through his calm personality and refusal to wield guns, instead mastering the Japanese sword Yamato. His design evolved from an alter-ego without original 3D movements in the first game to a fully realized character whose blue coat was intended to contrast Dante's red attire. The development team initially struggled with the clothing physics, joking he should remove his coat during fights. In Devil May Cry 5, Vergil confronts his son Nero and brother Dante, where the feud is halted by Nero awakening his own demon powers. His theme song "Bury the Light" reflects his attempt to bury humanity as a source of pain, contrasting with Nero's embrace of darkness.

In Their Own Story

In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Vergil was made playable due to extra development time, though some moves were removed for space limitations. His move set was crafted to reflect his calm nature while making him stronger yet harder to control than Dante. The staff considered adding a Nelo Angelo outfit as an alternate skin but feared the fanbase would reject it. Although he does not appear in Devil May Cry 4's main storyline, it is revealed he is Nero's father. In DmC: Devil May Cry, Ninja Theory retained his original design while portraying him as colder and more violent, working for The Order to rebel against Mundus. A planned co-op mode where Vergil assisted Dante was cut, leading instead to the single-player downloadable content "Vergil's Downfall," where he plays smoother than Dante despite sharing mechanics like a grappling hook.

Reader's Guide

To understand Vergil, note his origin as Nelo Angelo in the 2001 game, where he utilized "Summoned Swords" (Gen'eitō) since he did not wield guns. His appearance was designed by Daigo Ikeno for Devil May Cry 3, with Kazuma Kaneko creating his Devil Trigger form. The character class "Angelo" in the fifth installment includes Scudo Angelo, Proto Angelo, and Cavaliere Angelo, all resembling Nelo Angelo; Vergil's human counterpart V shows hatred toward them. Voice actor Daniel Southworth was cast quickly for Devil May Cry 3, bringing knowledge of samurai culture to portray a Western man using a Japanese sword with authentic yet wild style. Hideaki Itsuno noted Vergil's popularity in the US stemmed from Hollywood katana-wielding heroes and discussed ideas for a solo game. For Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition, plans initially included making him playable with a new fighting style.

Did You Know?

• The alias 'Nelo Angelo' is a misspelling of the Italian phrase for 'Black Angel' that was kept throughout the series due to its popularity.
• Vergil's Devil Trigger form was designed by Kazuma Kaneko, while his standard appearance in Devil May Cry 3 was created by Daigo Ikeno.
• In DmC: Devil May Cry, Vergil works for an organization called The Order that attempts to rebel against the demon king Mundus.
• Devil May Cry 5 features three enemy classes based on Nelo Angelo: Scudo Angelo, Proto Angelo, and Cavaliere Angelo.
• Voice actor Daniel Southworth was aware of samurai culture before being cast, which helped him balance authentic swordsmanship with a wild style.