History Fridge / DevilMayCry5

* Dante and Vergil {{Offhand Backhand}}ing Nero at the same time isn't just for a comedic scene, it also goes to show that they truly are twin brothers. Twins in [[TruthInTelevision real life]] tend to have the same thoughts and [[https://www.verywellfamily.com/things-always-wondered-about-twins-2447151 do the same thing at the same time]]. Even though Dante and Vergil have different ideologies, they would still share some of the same ideas.

* Dante's disheveled and weathered appearance in this game can be attributed to him not being able to afford to properly groom himself and having his water and electricity turned off. You can also notice that his hair has grown slightly longer after the month timeskip.

* To those who have read the Devil May Cry 1 Prequel novel and Before the Nightmare, there are a few:

* Dante and Vergil's conversation before destroying the Qliphoth (seen in the ''Special Edition'') says a lot about how much Vergil was affected learning he has a son. He's in an especially grumpy mood, considering he was just smirking in fascination less than a minute ago, and tries to avoid Dante's prying remarks about the reunion. When Dante jokes that his abrasiveness will never let him see his grandkids, it seems to hit a sore spot, as Vergil threatens him with Yamato and Dante uncharacteristically ''flinches'' and puts his hands up, understanding that he went a bit too far. Vergil's subsequent "Now... don't get in my way" is very subdued and melancholy, and Dante gets the hint and goes back to the cheesy battle talk to lighten the mood.

* The EasterEgg joke ending you earn for beating Urizen in the beginning of the game is funny...until you realize that Urizen is one half of Vergil. Between Urizen's destruction and V's subsequent death due to being separated from his other half for too long, Nero ''killed his own father''. That goes double for the fact that Nero's allies never wanted him to kill Vergil.
** And even if V figures out how to merge with a dead Urizen and survive as Vergil, he'll still miss out on all the character development he would have had during the game and end up reabsorbing his trauma from the familiars as well. Odds are he won't be as calm or reasonable as he was in the last chapters of the game.
* The effects of the Qliphoth on normal humans of Redgrave is brushed over in-game, with a few shots of people getting stabbed by roots and demons and that's it. Generic monster movie destruction. But the dry husks the player encounters all throughout Redgrave tell a wide variety of stories: a couple on a walk, a parent near a balloon stand, a metro car of people commuting home. Not only the citizens were destroyed, but some of their buildings hardly resemble structures anymore. It's almost Hiroshima-like. This sort of widescale destruction is truly horrific, arguably worse than all other series catclysms such as Temen-ni-gru from ''3'', but it's all hidden under the wacky woohoo pizza man adventures. Take a quiet moment to breathe in the environmental design and it feels like a completely different story.
* Dante gains Sin Devil Trigger by stabbing himself with Rebellion, horror kicks in when you remember that Dante based this choice on a ''guess'', he hopes that his father gifted them the swords based on them being PolarOppositeTwins, and remembering that his DT first activated when he was stabbed by Rebellion, if he had been wrong, there would have been ''another'' demon, probably stronger than Urizen, rampaging around.

* Itsuno has confirmed that Cavaliere Angelo was a new design of Angelo made by Mundus, but it had been abandoned because it required too much power. When you think about it, Mundus' creation Trish happened to be the perfect "battery" for Cavaliere Angelo, implying that by putting Trish in Cavaliere, Urizen just did what Mundus planned on doing to her eventually anyways.

* Cavaliere Angelo's first act upon meeting Dante is to throw a motorcycle at him, and once Dante defeats him, he gets a motorycle Devil Arm out of him. The motorcycle might've [[ContrivedCoincidence came out of nowhere]] at first, but there's actually another meaning to it. Considering he's powered by Trish, it's a very nice foreshadowing and callback to not only who's powering the Angelo, but also how Trish and Dante first met (in ''[=DMC1=]'', she rammed a motorcycle to enter Dante's shop and threw it at him).

* A consistent theme throughout the series is the duality of humanity and demons, and how humanity's desire for justice and [[ThePowerOfLove ability to love]] for others channels demonic powers better than the will for domination does. This is why Dante overcame every foe he came up against, even the likes of Vergil, because like Sparda, love gave his blade an edge that malice alone could not muster. Nero manages to overcome Dante and Vergil's malice against each other because in that moment, [[TheFourLoves love for his father and uncle]] mattered more to him than anything else, and that singular desire gave him the power he needed in that moment to pursue his justice. Dante, for all his human qualities, was fighting on Vergil's level and operating on hatred, whereas Nero's Devil Trigger was backed by a purity of intention that both brothers were lacking at the moment. Sparda would be proud to know that his grandson learned the lesson he wanted to impart on his sons, and by proxy had to beat it into them to remind them of its value.
* V's outfit does seem a little strange, with many people pointing out how gothic and/or edgy it is. Chapter 2 of the ''Visions of V'' manga reveals that V was completely naked after he and Griffon escaped from the twins' childhood home. Griffon had attacked a random mugger when he was distracted by V, thus providing the gothic-like clothes V wears throughout the game.

* Why does Vergil mellow out so easily compared to his past self? Because even if he doesn't admit it, part of Vergil has already accepted that Dante is just as good if not better than him. Why else would V come to Dante for help if he doesn't believe that Dante is stronger than his demonic half?

* Vergil's {{Boss Subtitle|s}} being "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Alpha and the Omega]]" makes sense in several different ways, all pertaining to its overall translation as "The First and the Last" or "The Beginning and the End".

* In every ''Devil May Cry'', Dante and Vergil's duels go in three steps. In ''3'', Vergil easily defeats Dante in their first duel, the two fight to a draw in their second duel, and Dante wins the third duel. This pattern repeats in ''1'' against Nelo Angelo, and also with Urizen in ''5''. Urizen easily defeats Dante, Dante fights Urizen to a draw, and then Dante defeats Urizen.

* Notice the difference between V and Urizen's fighting styles. V keeps his distance, comes in for a quick kill with his singular weapon, and uses magical canes to hit multiple enemies at once. Urizen, in his final clash with Dante, fights like a brawler accompanied by Summoned Swords-like projectiles. V fights like Vergil using Yamato, representing his more classy yet threatening demeanor, cutting apart the air even from afar, while Urizen fights like Vergil using Beowulf, acting like a savage man using his fists and feet to get close and deal large amounts of damage. Combine the two and, well, it's still Vergil, it's just that he's a master of ''both''.
* Nero doesn't get Devil Arms like Dante does. Instead, Nico uses the remnants of the demons he kills to make his Devil Breakers. But some potential Fridge Brilliance and JustForPun comes into play when you realize that the Devil Breakers are robot arms. ''Nero acquires literal Devil Arms throughout the game.''

* V and Urizen are incomplete beings. [[WeakButSkilled V]] has all the skill and finesse of Vergil but none of his pure power, hence his reliance on his familiars to do most of the fighting. [[UnskilledButStrong Urizen]] has all of Vergil's demonic power enhanced to an absurd degree, but he fights like a savage when facing Dante, which is why he lost to his far more skilled opponent, especially when Dante got the power to turn the tables. Now combined as [[StrongAndSkilled Vergil]], they're finally on the same level as their true foe, but in exchange, they [[DeathOfPersonality lost their freedom of being their own person]].

* V noticeably has a much more personal and sadistic kill for the Angelo series of enemies than most other demons, where he grabs their heads to hold them still as he slits their throat. This makes a lot of sense later when we learn his origins and why he probably dislikes these enemies more than others.

* It may seem odd as to how Vergil was able to cut himself into two beings: his demon half becoming Urizen and his human half becoming V. However, one might recall that Vergil's favored weapon is Yamato. Rebellion and Yamato were said to be swords of Sparda with special capabilities. What is Yamato's? The ability to cut through dimensions! This power has been seen to be used to separate as well as combine the Demon and Human World. Vergil using it to split himself into his demon and human sides, as well as them eventually converging back together, is quite possible when one considers its abilities to do so.
* Dante and Vergil {{Offhand Backhand}}ing Nero at the same time isn't just for a comedic scene, it also goes to show that they truly are twin brothers. Twins in real life tend to have the same thoughts and do the same thing at the same time. Even though Dante and Vergil have different ideologies, they would still share some of the same ideas.
** Also take a look at Nero's face in the following scene; he's visibly injured on the side of his face that Dante hit, but not the other side. Did Dante hit him a little harder in an act of playful revenge for Nero having hit him earlier? Or did Vergil go easier on Nero now he knew that he was his son?
* When V offers Dante the job at the beginning of the game's events, he introduces their target as "your "reason"... your reason for fighting." Clever pun using the name of Urizen, while also letting Dante know that it's really Vergil.
* Part Fridge Brilliance and other Part Fridge Horror. V's nature as a whole makes a lot of sense (and consequently becomes very disturbing) when one considers the connotations between his nature as Vergil's Human Side and his Familiars being representations of his trauma as Nelo Angelo. Whenever V uses his powers, it noticably wears him down and makes him die faster, and as noted, his powers are centered on his Familiars. One could easily connect V's dependence on his familiars as being akin to dwelling on one's own trauma for too long, which undoubtedly damages the person mentally and emotionally. Consequently, V reading his book of poems to revive his Devil Trigger Gauge could be seen as Vergil trying to take solace in what few happy memories and fantasies he had from Eva, but of course, due to the reliance on his familiars, it only ends up prolonging the inevitable deterioration of his form.

* Cavaliere Angelo's first act upon meeting Dante is to throw a motorcycle at him, and once Dante defeats him, he gets a motorycle Devil Arm out of him. The motorcycle might've [[ContrivedCoincidence came out of nowhere]] at first, but there's actually another meaning to it. Considering he's powered by Trish, it's a very nice foreshadowing and callback to not only who's powering the Angelo, but also how Trish and Dante first met (in ''[=DMC1=]'', she rammed a motorcycle to enter Dante's shop and threw it at him).

* Although the fact that various Devil Breakers are placed across the field might come across as AcceptableBreaksFromReality, on hindsight it is perfectly possible Nico simply ''launches'' the ones with rocket functions and have them land at random spots in Red Grave City and later within the Qliphoth tree.

* It might seem odd at first that V would read a quote by poet William Blake as though it were religious scripture. But that's actually the point, since the specific quote is from the Proverbs of Hell, which Blake intended to be a counterpart to the Biblical Book of Proverbs. Essentially, he is reading religious scripture, just that of Hell (or Blake's vision of Hell).
* The Faust Hat is a Devil Arm that takes the form of the NiceHat the Fausts wore in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', and that attacks by using your Red Orbs which serve as currency in game. Given the game has microtransactions so you can easily get Red Orbs, it's possible for it to not just [[CastFromMoney cast from Dante's money]], but [[BribingYourWayToVictory YOURS as well!]]

* V decides to try nearly stabbing Dante in the head with Sparda to wake him up, because he knows whenever Dante's unconscious he always wakes up ''just'' before someone tries to kill him.
* Dante needs a new power up to beat Urizen. Solution? Stab himself in the chest with Rebellion! After all, getting stabbed in the chest with a sword unlocked a new power the [[OnceAnEpisode last four times]] it happened! In this case, Dante ''finally'' accepting his demonic heritage inherited from Sparda, not just focusing solely on his human heritage from Eva; he quite literally ''absorbs'' Sparda (the sword). That he's facing the family portrait symbolizes that acceptance as he absorbs both Rebellion and Demon Sword Sparda to form his own, Demon Sword Dante. It also symbolizes how Rebellion was the opposite of Yamato — where Yamato has the ability to split demonic power apart, Rebellion has the ability to ''unify'' demonic power ''together''. Dante overcame the mental "rebellion" that had been holding him back since ''3''.

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', Kyrie's song in the prologue (titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXk2XGGkD-Y "Out of Darkness"]]) is initially sung for praising Sparda, whom the Order of the Sword worships, as a way to commemorate his legend and deeds. But with the events of ''Devil May Cry 5'', parts of the lyrics can now be interpreted as a subtle {{Foreshadowing}} to unlocking Dante's full potential and the eventual resolution to his relationship with Vergil at the end of the game. Here are parts of the lyrics being dissected, with the plot points that they hint further in the notes.
--> Hear the devil's cry of sin, [[note]]Refers to the potential Sin Devil Trigger that Dante can obtain[[/note]]\\
Always turn your back on him. [[note]]How Dante becomes unable to realize the true power of Rebellion, being able to absorb his true demonic heritage.[[/note]]\\

Still I dream of your spirit leading you back home.[[note]]Dante returns to their foster family home[[/note]]\\
I will give my gifts to you,[[note]]While standing in front of their father's portrait, Dante stabs himself with the Rebellion to unlock Sin Devil Trigger[[/note]]\\

The light in your eyes an angel up high,[[note]]The angel being referred to in the song is Eva, the inspiration for both Sparda and Dante[[/note]]\\
Fighting to ease the shadow side.[[note]]As Mundus becomes the dark rival of Sparda, Dante's rival is his brother Vergil, but he does not truly intend to kill him.[[/note]]\\
Hearts will grow though having to bend,[[note]]A sibling rivalry exists. The brothers fought numerous times...[[/note]]\\
Leaving behind all things in the end.[[note]]...Yet they reconciled in the end.[[/note]]
** Alternatively, it foreshadows the ending of the game with Kyrie's words (listen to my voice calling to you) being enough to give Nero the resolve to save both Dante and Vergil (hear the devil's cry of sin) atop of the demon tree Qliphoth that Vergil helped create (Grow your garden, watch it bloom) and how Nero has to use his newfound Devil Trigger to ease the long standing rivalry (The light in your eyes, an angel up high, fighting to ease the shadow's side) and how Vergil's journey as V brought his humanity literally back to him, they both reconciled with each other (hearts will grow through having to bend, leaving behind all things in the end).

* Dante and Vergil's conversation before destroying the Qliphoth (seen in the ''Special Edition'') says a lot about how much Vergil was affected learning he has a son. He's in an especially grumpy mood, considering he was just smirking in fascination less than a minute ago, and tries to avoid Dante's prying remarks about the reunion. When Dante jokes that his abrasiveness will never let him see his grandkids, it seems to hit a sore spot, as Vergil threatens him with Yamato and Dante uncharacteristically ''flinches'' and puts his hands up, understanding that he went a bit too far. Vergil's subsequent "Now... don't get in my way" is very subdued and melancholy, and Dante gets the hint and goes back to the cheesy battle talk.

* Doctor Faust is unlike any Devil Arm that comes before it, using red orbs as ammunition. This makes sense when you realise that, unlike every other Devil Arm, Dr Faust wasn't created from a Devil, but a common demon. A [[EliteMook powerful demon,]] but still pathetic compared to the likes of Goliath and Cavaliere. It makes sense that a weapon created from a being of lesser power needs something to compensate for its inherent disadvantage.

* Cavaliere Angelo's first act upon meeting Dante is to throw a motorycle at him, and once Dante defeats him, he gets a motorycle Devil Arm out of him. The motorcycle might've [[ContrivedCoincidence came out of nowhere]] at first, but there's actually another meaning to it. Considering he's powered by Trish, it's a very nice foreshadowing and callback to not only who's powering the Angelo, but also how Trish and Dante first met (in ''[=DMC1=]'', she rammed a motorcycle to enter Dante's shop and threw it at him).

* Vergil's {{Boss Subtitle|s}} being "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Alpha and the Omega]]" makes sense as timeline-wise, he was the first final boss Dante fought, hence the Alpha. Now he's the last final boss Dante fights, thus, the Omega.

** There's also the fact that "The Alpha and the Omega" translates to "The First And The Last". The fits how he's the first brother (being the elder of the twins) as well as the first one to delve into the Demon World, which all of the playable characters seem to do at some point in game. He's also the first to delve into his demonic nature the most, supposedly getting his Devil Trigger before Dante. He is also the last one to escape the Demon World (given his time as Nelo Angelo), the last one to figure that humanity does have some meaning (compared to Nero and Dante who embraced it first), and, of course, the last Boss in ''Devil May Cry 3'' and ''5''.

*** Interestingly, Bury the Light is ''over twice as long'' as Crimson Cloud - the former clocks in at nine minutes and forty seconds while the latter is four and a half minutes. So, in a sense, much like V being the human half of Vergil, Crimson Cloud is only one half of Bury the Light! Oh, yeah. And then this -

*** It also connects to "Devils Never Cry" through its theming of light. In both songs, light is synonymous with humanity, and reflects the brothers outlooks on their human half. Vergil, who sees his humanity as nothing but a source of weakness, desires to "Bury the light deep with", rejecting and abandoning it, while Dante's perspective is that humanity is a gift, reflected in the line "Bless me with your gift of light", showing that he believes his humanity is a gift that must be embraced. It also shows that, in contrast with Nero who is more focused on his demonic heritage, the Sons of Sparda are more concerned with their human sides, despite having conflicting views on it.
* One [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DevilMayCry/comments/b14igh/interesting_thing_i_noticed_about_the_dmc/ reddit poster]] noticed something that could easily be a happy coincidence or just straight up sheer coincidence regarding three of the boss fights Dante encounters over all five titles. Dante's final boss fight with Vergil in ''3'' is in the Demon World, while Dante fights Nelo Angelo in the Human World in ''1'', and finally the twins battle on top of the Qliphoth far above the earth in ''5''. Practically [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic step for step]] on Creator/DanteAlighieri and his Virgil passing through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso of ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''.
* Why does Vergil mellow out so easily compared to his past self? Because even if he doesn't admit it, part of Vergil has already accepted that Dante is just as good if not better than him. Why else would V comes to Dante for help if he doesn't believe that Dante is stronger than his demonic half?

** They could also reflect that he's disgusted that, as Vergil's Human Half, that Urizen would be willing to essentially make use of the trauma as Nelo Angelo to be his foot soldiers. In essence, that without any morality to him, Vergil's ambitions could lead him to be as bad as Mundus, the guy who enslaved him.
* Vergil's {{Boss Subtitle|s}} being "[[NamesToRunAwayFrom The Alpha and the Omega]]" makes sense as timeline wise, he was the first final boss Dante fought, hence the Alpha. Now he's the last final boss Dante fights, thus, the Omega.
** V is the one who kicks off Dante's adventure. Urizen is the one who waits for him at the end. The "Alpha" V and the "Omega" Urizen come together to become Vergil
** There's also the fact that "The Alpha and the Omega" translates to "The First And The Last". The fits how he's the first brother (being the elder of the twins) as well as the first one to delve into the Demon World, which all of the playable characters seem to do at some point in game. He's also the first to delve into his demonic nature the most, supposedly getting his Devil Trigger before Dante. He is also the last one to escape the Demon World (given his time as Nelo Angelo), the last one to figure that humanity does have some meaning (compared to Nero and Dante who embraced it first), and, of course, the last Boss in Devil May Cry 3 and 5.
* In every ''Devil May Cry'', Dante and Vergil's duels go in three steps. In ''3'', Vergil easily defeats Dante in their first duel, the two fight to a draw in their second duel, and Dante wins the third duel. This pattern repeats in ''1'' against Nelo Angelo, and also with Urizen ''5''. Urizen easily defeats Dante, Dante fights Urizen to a draw, and then Dante defeats Urizen.

* Notice the difference between V and Urizen's fighting styles. V keeps his distance, comes in for a quick kill with his singular weapon and uses magical canes to hit multiple enemies at once. Urizen, in his final clash with Dante, fights like a brawler accompanied by Summoned Swords-like projectiles. V fights like Vergil using Yamato, representing his more classy yet threatening demeanor, cutting apart the air even from afar, while Urizen fights like Vergil using Beowulf, acting like a savage man using his fists and feet to get close and deal large amounts of damage. Combine the two and, well, it's still Vergil, it's just that he's a master of BOTH.

* V and Urizen are incomplete beings. [[WeakButSkilled V]] has all the skill and finesse of Vergil but none of his pure power, hence his reliance on his familiars to do most of the fighting. [[UnskilledButStrong Urizen]] has all of Vergil's demonic power enhanced to an absurd degree but he fights like a savage when facing Dante, which is why he lost to his far more skilled opponent, especially when Dante got the power to turn the tables. Now combined as [[StrongAndSkilled Vergil]], they're finally on the same level as their true foe, but in exchange, they [[DeathOfPersonality lost their freedom of being their own person]].
* At the end of the game, Dante trying to kill Vergil may come right out of the blue, considering how well he was getting along with V and seemed to treat him well enough. However, V had just reformed into Vergil right before Dante's eyes, rather than V trying to be the one to kill Urizen. To Dante, it could easily open up old emotional wounds of how Vergil was willing to pay plenty of high costs to himself and those around him to attain power. In ''1''[='=]s prequel novel (which may be canon given Nell Goldstein was mentioned), he killed plenty of Dante's mercenary friends and is responsible for Nell's death, in ''3'' he's responsible for bringing forth the Temen-ni-gru and the InferredHolocaust it entailed, and here he (as Urizen) is responsible for the Qliphoth invading the human realm and killing thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people! It wouldn't be much of a stretch for Dante to believe that Vergil has caused ''another'' catastrophe for the sake of his goals (which isn't far from the truth), only made worse by betraying Dante's trust yet again, which also makes it plausible why Dante is dead set on killing Vergil: to not let him be able to cause any more trouble ever again. It's really a good thing that it seems Vergil [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone had finally realized how far he's gone and how much anguish he's caused]] and [[TheAtoner wants to attempt making up for it]], and a [[OffhandBackhand bitchslap from Nero]] and subsequent pounding from Nero to Vergil to actually end the rivalry and set the record straight.
* V noticeably has a much more personal and sadistic kill for the Angelo series of enemies then most other demons, where he grabs their heads to hold them still as he slits their throat. This makes a lot of sense later when we learn his origins and why he probably dislikes these enemies more than others.

* Cavaliere Angelo's first act upon meeting Dante is to throw a motorycle at him, and once Dante defeats him, he gets a motorycle Devil Arm out of him. The motorcycle might've [[ContrivedCoincidence came out of nowhere]] at first, but there's actually another meaning to it. Considering he's powered by Trish, it's a very nice foreshadowing and callback to not only who's powering the Angelo, but also how Trish and Dante first met (In ''[=DMC1=]'', she rammed a motorcycle to enter Dante's shop and threw it at him).

** And even if V figures out how to merge with a dead Urizen and survive as Vergil he'll still miss out on all the character development he would have had during the game and end up reabsorbing his trauma from the familiars as well. Odds are he won't be as calm or reasonable as he was in the last chapters of the game.

** There's also his nature as the human half of Vergil to consider. For much of ''3'', Vergil despised his being part-human, believing it to be a source of weakness. This is reflected in V lacking the style and brute force Dante and Nero possess, boosted even further by his rapidly decaying body.

* Dante needs a new power up to beat Urizen. Solution? Stab himself in the chest with Rebellion! After all, getting stabbed in the chest with a sword unlocked a new power the [[OnceAnEpisode last four times]] it happened! In this case, Dante ''finally'' accepting his demonic heritage inherited from Sparda, not just focusing solely on his human heritage from Eva; he quite literally ''absorbs'' Sparda (the sword). That he's facing the family portrait symbolizes that acceptance as he absorbs both Rebellion and Demon Sword Sparda to form his own, Demon Sword Dante. It also symbolizes how Rebellion was the opposite of Yamato - where Yamato has the ability to split demonic power apart, Rebellion has the ability to ''unify'' demonic power ''together''. Dante overcame the mental "rebellion" that had been holding him back since ''3''.

Leaving behind all things in the end.[[note]]...Yet they reconciled in the end[[/note]]
** Alternatively, it foreshadows the ending of the game with Kyrie's words (listen to my voice calling to you) being enough to give Nero the resolve to save both Dante and Vergil (hear the devils cry of sin) atop of the demon tree Qliphoth that Vergil helped create (Grow your garden, watch it bloom) and how Nero has to use his newfound Devil Trigger to ease the long standing rivalry (The light in your eyes, an angel up high, fighting to ease the shadow's side) and how Vergil's journey as V brought his humanity literally back to him,they both reconciled with each other (hearts will grow through having to bend, leaving behind all things in the end).

* It may seem odd as to how [Vergil was able to cut himself into two beings: his demon half becoming Urizen and his human half becoming V. However, one might recall that Vergil's favored weapon is Yamato. Rebellion and Yamato were said to be swords of Sparda with special capabilities. What is Yamato's? The ability to cut through dimensions! This power has been seen to be used to separate as well as combine the Demon and Human World. Vergil using it to split himself into his demon and human sides, as well as them eventually converging back together, is quite possible when one considers its abilities to do so.

** Also take a look at Nero's face in the following scene; he's visibly injured on the side of his face that Dante hit but not the other side. Did Dante hit him a little harder in an act of playful revenge for Nero having hit him earlier? Or did Vergil go easier on Nero now he knew that he was his son?

* Part Fridge Brilliance and other Part Fridge Horror. V's nature as a whole makes a lot of sense (and consequently becomes very disturbing) when one considers the connotations between his nature as Vergil's Human Side and his Familiars being representations of his trauma as Nelo Angelo. Whenever V uses his powers, it noticably wears him down and makes him die faster, and as noted his powers are centered on his Familiars. One could easily connect V's dependence on his familiars as being akin to dwelling on one's own trauma for too long, which undoubtedly damages the person mentally and emotionally. Consequently, V reading his book of poems to revive his Devil Trigger Gauge could be seen as Vergil trying to take solace in what few happy memories and fantasies he had from Eva, but of course due to the reliance of his familiars, it only ends up prolonging the inevitable deterioration of his form.
** The Familiars being described by V as being like dreams, as in they can inflict pain but cannot truly kill anything which is why V needs to give the finishing moves, is also disturbing. It can easily be linked to how mental or emotional trauma can cause pain to people, but it doesn't ultimately kill them. [[DrivenToSuicide It's the people themselves who have to end the misery]].
* A consistent theme throughout the series is the duality of humanity and demons, and how humanity's desire for justice and [[ThePowerOfLove ability to love]] for others channels demonic powers better than the will for domination does. This is why Dante overcame every foe he came up against, even the likes of Vergil, because like Sparda love gave his blade an edge that malice alone could not muster. Nero manages to overcome Dante and Vergil's malice against each other because in that moment [[TheFourLoves love for his father and uncle]] mattered more to him than anything else, and that singular desire gave him the power he needed in that moment to pursue his justice. Dante, for all his human qualities, was fighting on Vergil's level and operating on hatred, whereas Nero's Devil Trigger was backed by a purity of intention that both brothers were lacking at the moment. Sparda would be proud to know that his grandson learned the lesson he wanted to impart on his sons, and by proxy had to beat it into them to remind them of its value.
* V's outfit does seem a little strange, with many people pointing out how gothic and/or edgy it is. [Chapter 2 of the ''Visions of V'' manga reveals that V was completely naked after he and Griffon escaped from the twins' childhood home. Griffon had attacked a random mugger when he was distracted by V, thus providing the gothic-like clothes V wears throughout the game.
* The themes for the character's fights can be fitting for them if read into by the game's plot.

* One [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DevilMayCry/comments/b14igh/interesting_thing_i_noticed_about_the_dmc/ reddit poster]] noticed something that could easily be a happy coincidence or just straight up sheer coincidence regarding three of the boss fights Dante encounters over the all five titles. Dante's final boss fight with Vergil in ''3'' is in the Demon World, while Dante fights Nelo Angelo in the Human World in ''1'', and finally the twins battle on top of the Qliphoth far above the earth in ''5''. Practically [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic step for step]] on Creator/DanteAlighieri and his Virgil passing through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso of ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''.

* The Faust Hat is a Devil Arm that takes the form of the NiceHat the Fausts wore in Devil May Cry 4, and that attacks by using your Red Orbs which serve as currency in game. Given the game has microtransactions so you can easily get Red Orbs, it's possible for it to not just [[CastFromMoney cast from Dante's money]], but [[BribingYourWayToVictory YOURS as well!]]

* It is revealed that the Angelo armours were created by Machiavelli, the creator of Artemis and Pandora, by the order of Mundus. However, Trish has claimed that Machiavelli is dead by the time of the ''DMC'' Anime. This can only mean that, once he perfected the Angelo armour with Nelo Angelo, Mundus likely killed him. If the Visions of V manga is to be believed, than the Nelo Angelo armour already was created by the end of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3'', meaning not only was Mundus preparing for his war against the Sons of Sparda long before he had Vergil enslaved, Machiavelli was likely long dead by the time of the original game.

* Cavaliere Angelo's first act upon meeting Dante is to throw a motorycle at him, and once Dante defeats him, he gets a motorycle Devil Arm out of him. The motorcycle might've [[ContrivedCoincidence came out of nowhere]] at first, but there's actually another meaning to it. [[spoiler:Considering he's powered by Trish, it's a very nice foreshadowing and callback to not only who's powering the Angelo, but also how Trish and Dante first met (In ''[=DMC1=]'', she rammed a motorcycle to enter Dante's shop and threw it at him).]]

* Cavaliere Angelo's first act upon meeting Dante is to throw a motorycle at him and once Dante defeats him he gets a motorycle Devil Arm out of him. [[spoiler:Considering he's powered by Trish, it's a very nice foreshadowing and callback to not only who's powering the Angelo but also how Trish and Dante first met.]]

* V noticeably has a much more personal and sadistic kill for the Angelo series of enemies then most other demons, where he grabs their heads to hold them still as he slits their throat. This makes a lot of sense later when we learn his origins and why he probably dislike these enemies more then others.
* Doctor Faust is unlike any Devil Arm that comes before it, using red orbs as ammunition. This makes sense when you realise that, unlike every other devil arm, Dr Faust wasn't created from a Devil, but a common demon. A [[EliteMook powerful demon,]] but still pathetic compared to the likes of Goliath and Cavaliere. It makes sense that a weapon created from a being of lesser power needs something to compensate for it's inherent disadvantage.

*** Fittingly, the song's chorus sounds very similar to the chorus of Devil Trigger. This is brought to a head in the final chorus, which begins with "Bury the light deep within!", a mirror phrase to "Embrace the darkness that's within me!" While Nero's arc is about learning to embrace his weaknesses and his demonic nature, Vergil is fruitlessly trying to bury his decency and his human nature. The entirety of 6:38 to 7:30 in the song also solidifies Vergil's WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds status since this is a reference to the day his mother died, which is further accentuated by "Cast aside, there's no coming home! / We're burning chaos in the wind! / Drifting in the ocean all alone!" during the breakdown at the end. [[TearJerker Ouch]].

* Cavaliere Angelo, is the prototype Angelo, created by Mundas before Nelo Angelo, faulty due to lacking the spark needed to make him animate, but then you realise something, Mundas created Trish, who happens to be the perfect "battery" for Cavaliere Angelo, that implies that What Urizan did to her, Mundas was planning on doing to Trish eventually anyway.

* Dante gains Sin Devil Trigger by stabbing himself with Rebellion, horror kicks in when you remember that Dante based this choice on a ''guess'', he hopes that his father gifted them the swords based on them being PolarOppositeTwins, and remembering that his DT first activated when he was stabbed by Rebellion, if he had been wrong, there would have been ''another'' demon, probably stronger than Urizan, rampaging around.

* Dante gains Sin Devil Trigger by stabbing himself with Rebellion, horror kicks in when you remember that Dante based this choice on a ''guess'', he hopes that his father gifted them the swords based on them being PolarOppostieTwins, and remembering that his DT first activated when he was stabbed by Rebellion, if he had been wrong, there would have been ''another'' demon, probably stronger than Urizan, rampaging around.

* Dante's disheveled and weathered appearance in this game can be attributed to him not being able to afford to properly groom himself and having his water and electricity turned off.

* The effects of the Qliphoth on normal humans of Redgrave is brushed over in-game, with a few shots of people getting stabbed by roots and demons and that's it. Generic monster movie destruction. But the dry husks the player encounters all throughout Redgrave tell a wide variety of stories: a couple on a walk, a parent near a balloon stand, a metro car of people commuting home. Not only the citizens were destroyed, but some of their buildings hardly resemble structures anymore. It's almost Hiroshima-like. This sort of widescale destruction is truly horrific, arguably worse than catclysms such as Temen-ni-gru from ''3'', but it's all hidden under the wacky woohoo pizza man adventures. Take a quiey moment to breathe in the environmental design and it feels like a completely different story.

* The effects of the Qliphoth on normal humans of Redgrave is brushed over in-game, with a few shots of people getting stabbed by roots and demons and that's it. Generic monster movie destruction. But the dry husks the player encounters all throughout Redgrave tell a wide variety of stories: a couple on a walk, a parent near a balloon stand, a metro car of people commuting home. Not only the citizens were destroyed, but some of their buildings hardly resemble structures anymore. It's almost Hiroshima-like. This sort of widescale destruction is truly horrific, if you can look past the wacky woohoo pizza man adventures.

** And even if V figures out how to merge with a dead Urizen and survive as Vergil he'll still miss out on all the character development he would have had during the game and end up reabsorbing his trauma from the familiars as well. Odds are he won't be as calm or reasonable as he was in the last chapters of the game.

* Dante needs a new power up to beat Urizen. Solution? Stab himself in the chest with Rebellion! After all, getting stabbed in the chest with a sword unlocked a new power the [[OnceAnEpisode last four times]] it happened! In this case, Dante ''finally'' accepting his demonic heritage inherited from Sparda, not just focusing solely on his human heritage from Eva. That he's facing the family portrait symbolizes that acceptance as he absorbs both Rebellion and Demon Sword Sparda to form his own, Demon Sword Dante. It also symbolizes how Rebellion was the opposite of Yamato - where Yamato has the ability to split demonic power apart, Rebellion has the ability to ''unify'' demonic power ''together''. Dante overcame the mental "rebellion" that had been holding him back since ''3''.