Vergil's Inferiority | Devil May Cry 5 Analysis

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Why is Vergil so obsessed with power? Would you believe me if I tell you that it all comes from Vergil feeling inferiority? This Devil May Cry 5 analysis will be diving deep into explaining Vergil's Inferiority.

Music Used:

[wannabetyson]

How they gain more power
Vergill: He lost everything he lost even his humanity
Dante: Stab himself with broken sword
Nero: DEAD WEIGHT

[ijustworkhere]

Vergil: *becomes the most powerful demon in history*
Dante: *stabs himself*
Nero: *gets a new DT out of nowhere*
Vergil: "am I a joke to you?"

[otakamerd]

Vergil wants power but everyone knows the best offence is a good *ROYAL GUARD!*

[flamingmuffin]

something to add - when Vergil was attacked as a child, it was his devil trigger which saved him, which I don't think its had to argue that that solidified a notion of "the demon keeps me safe" as a sort of emotional shield or crutch., as it wasn't other people or Dante or his mother which saved him, it was himself and only a part himself which allowed him to survive. If only he had control of it sooner, he could have protected them as well.


Reading deeply into the DMC3 line "Foolishness Dante, foolishness. Might controls everything, and without strength you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself." develops, to me, Vergil's hierarchy of needs, which I believe holds true for DMC5.


Vergil's mother died because he wasn't strong, he was a liability that caused his own traumatic childhood, in his mind, so:
If you are strong, you can protect yourself, and not cause others to suffer on your behalf.
If you are stronger still, you can protect others from a situation of even being presented the choice of suffering on your behalf.
culminating in "if i'm strong enough, an emotional bond can never cause pain".
In my mind, a crystalline coping mechanism, writ large.
For Vergil, I never got the notion that he wanted power for power's sake, even in a sense of satisfying a complex, what I think he wants is control. it just happens that power allows a lot of control.


Control is also all over Vergil's mannerism, speech patterns, posture, fighting style, hair style, even the written word is a far more controlled method of expression. He values control, the concept of control and, consciously or otherwise, displays control.
To him, power is the currency of control, not the other way around, as he never revels in the display of power nor in the feeling of it, unlike Arkham.


Fast forward to DMC5, we have a Vergil who clearly has power, but is losing control. (easily tossing and ripping Nero's arm off, but also degrading rapidly) He doesn't have the strength to protect himself, he's back at the base of his hierarchy of needs. So, in order to regain control, he gain's power. And it seems like he knew the full plan prior to separation, human form will buy time while the demon gains strength, to then rejoin at a later time. Once Vergil is in control of himself again he takes no issue with destroying the very thing which granted him power.


Given how V had the memories, but not Urizen, strikes me as a very specific point on his psychology, that his humanity is in control, always. If demon and human sides were unified, one would expect both to consciously have some memories, but this is not the case as is seen in the eating of the fruit scene. The fruit seemed to create an illusion of the setting which is the purpose of gaining power, Vergil's childhood home - power to protect. But Urizen wasn't conscious of it, to speculate further, this tells us that Vergil treats his demonhood as a tool, and nothing more, to protect his humanity and what he values.


On the surface one can say Vergil's humanity is weak and his demonic side is more of what Vergil is, but I think that's incorrect. I think V is so frail because Vergil is overly protective of his humanity, he's never wanting to risk it, instead, he keeps his demon side at arms-length, controlled, and develops that to protect himself.


edit: to add, I think the reason we see him grow as a character by reflecting on top of the tree is that his humanity finally had its own experiences and growth on its own, without relying on the demon side to handle or shield him. He took a walk outside of his shell.

[dhavalkotak]

Dante: I need chocolates
Vergil: I NEED MORE CHOCOLATES

[hollowficate]

I just wanna share this quote which I firmly believe that Vergil will accept and agree:

"Suffering exist only because weakness exist. You must hate all weakness. Hate it in others but most of all...hate it in yourself".
- Ozunu

[lamcb.]

I love that lil wistful tone to his voice when Vergil says to Dante that he is perfectly capable of handling this by himself. And Dante just shrugs and says he's to need some help. The motion Vergil makes just before the twins get attacked again is almost hesitant. The man has the emotional range of a teacup. But including (and yes I know it is not canon) seeing the stiff and awkward body language of Vergil as he sits next to Nero in the van is a perfect example that he is in fact a very timid socially awkward man who can't communicate his feelings properly

[knightslayer]

How ironic after Vergil “regains his humanity” he became stronger than ever.

[starfish]

Vergil doesn't want to lose to Dante. so when he saw Dante looking old and have a beard, Vergil thought "this... this is my chance to best him", and immediately use Yamato to shave so he can look younger than Dante

[crimsonflamek]

Because Devil May Cry is deeper than many people think.

Seriously, this was definitely worth the wait! Amazing job, man. :D

[scivoid]

I think it's also interesting to analyze his Demon half - Urizen. Vergil didn't just cast out his human half but everything he saw as weak within himself. The Nightmares that V uses to fight, the fact Urizen doesn't even remember the house he grew up in, the fact Urizen went on to give the Nelo Angelo treatment to Lady and Trish.

All those memories went to V, Urizen was left with no distractions other than his mission of gaining more power and beating Dante. Of course the irony here is that all those memories and feelings are what kept V moving forward despite his body on the cusp of breaking down with every step of the way.

Can't wait for the Nero episode! Nero perfectly combines the two brother's motivation:

Gain more **Power** *to* **Protect** others.

[TimeCircleBlue]

“To see ones justice through, a man must fight for it. Even if the one who stands against him is his brother.”

-V

[bobsapdagger]

So Vergil is just an angry child too emotionally immature to accept that he felt weak and scared? Actually now the ending of DMC 5 does make more sense, okay just the part where Virgil just goes along with what Nero wants. Nero was very clearly trying to stop the two of them because he cared about them. Maybe it finally clicked for Vergil that that's why Dante has been fighting him all this time, because they just want him to take a fucking chill pill.

[ivanhunter]

Dante: The ultimate troll

Vergil: The ultimate Badass

Nero: Dead weight/You're adopted

[rw]

I love how they developed Vergil's character in 5

[InfiniteEscuro]

I think the best part about Vergil in the end is that when he was remade by Urizen and V reuniting, he was actually a lot more human in action than before. I mean, the very fact that he even questions his and Dante's fates being different is proof enough. All the character development that V went through was brought into Vergil's character as well.

And I dunno about you, but Dante seemed to actually _like_ Vergil by the end of it. He seemed happy to fight with him in Hell for who knew how long, and it _wasn't_ a fight to the death. It just... looked like brotherly sparring, filled with a competitive but not angry edge. I mean for fuck's sake; VERGIL SMILED AT DANTE AND EVERYTHING. More than once and without sarcasm or hate to be seen.

They're both still noticeably different from each other, but I think if nothing else, Vergil's ideology evolved to be more like Nero's and Dante's; gain power not to never be emotional or inferior again, but to protect that which is important and cared for in your life. After all, I'm quite sure Vergil discovered a care for Nero through V's own helpful friendship with the boy, and saw enough respect in Dante to actually care for him as well. Or, at least, to not hate him anymore.

But, I'm not incredibly introspective nor all that versed in DMC first-hand. The only one I've played was DMC5 even though I've watched a good deal of the others, though I still feel like Vergil is a different person when he finally reemerges at the end of the game. Different than any incarnation of himself ever before.

And, probably as a surprise to himself, he'll likely just get stronger from from his human half being more prominent.

EDIT: Oh, and, also? I think it's pretty neat in a subtle way that Vergil and Dante respectively separate and combine in someway in their home, but Vergil has his back to the painting of his family as he separates, while Dante faces it as he combines with Devil Sword Sparda and transforms.

[Yamimidna]

"... he was willing to even tear his own son's arm off for power."

To be fair, Vergil didn't know Nero was his son. Doubt it would have stopped him in that moment but it kind of takes off the edge of this action.

[hanshirt]

Dante and Vergil are also seeking fulfillment for what their purposes are. Whether to conquer or Protect. (Video idea)

[AmateurAnimations]

You gotta love how DMC 5 introduces Vergil with the title, "The Alpha and Omega", you know, one of the actual titles used to describe God. It seems even Capcom understands how much everyone loves Vergil

[Sioolol]

In Vergils last battle with Dante, he was ready to lose. He knew he would lose to dante and accepted it. Thats why he was so calm and phylosophical, even friendly to Dante. His expirience as V helped with it. He was prepared to die in that fight.

Thats why he was much softer in the end of DMC5. He actualy, finaly, accepted his humanity, just as Dante accepted his demonic part. This can lead to incredibly interesting character development in future games, if they be released a bit sooner than in 12 fucking years, lol.