Continuity Nod / Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry 5 is just one game, but many past events in the previous entries of the main continuity get referenced in one way or another. The game's Library and Nico's Reports sections are treasure troves when it comes to mentioning previously-established lore and plot points, while the cutscenes may also contain Internal Homages that re-create camera angles and shots from old scenes.

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To recurring elements from several Devil May Cry entries:

• Dante can ride around on the Cavaliere motorcycle Devil Arm the second he obtains it, as a small reference back to him having gotten extensive experience riding a motorcycle on the wall of Temen-ni-gru in 3, and into Hell at the end of 2.
• V's narration about Vergil "suffering defeat after defeat" references the several battles that he canonically lost ever since; he gets beaten up at least twice in 3, defeated and tortured offscreen by Mundus, and the last time we see him lose chronologically is when he disappears into flames as Nelo Angelo after Dante defeated him in 1.
• Nelo Angelo is mentioned several times in Nico's Reports as the original "Black Angel" (the intended translation of his name ever since the first game). It's also a reference to the fourth game and its Deadly Fortune novel where Agnus also used the term (alongside "dark angel") when mentioning Nelo Angelo.
• Nico brings the van around at a pay phone so that the player could purchase abilities and items. The series-staple Divinity Statues that serve as mid-mission upgrade/shop hubs also show up inside the Qliphoth levels. On the counter where she does business with the heroes, you can see a miniature Divinity Statue off to the right, referencing her role as this game's shopkeeper similar to the Divinity Statues' god of time and space.
• Dante's Special Provocation taunt from completing Bloody Palace is a three-fold reference to 4 and also a subtle nod to 3. He quotes "What you lack... is this!", referencing a part of his speech to Agnus questioning him about the thing that humans have but demons lack. He creates a heart logo using the red blades summoned by his own Devil Sword, just like how he also carved a huge heart in a Hellgate monolith using the Lucifer's red blades. Dante slicks his hair back to resemble Vergil, just like in the complete animation of his Dark Slayer Style pose from 4 (but this time, the hairstyle can be retained). The last tidbit is also a reminder that in their youth, Vergil and Dante were identical until Vergil slicked back his hair.

To Devil May Cry:

• The game is set in "Red Grave City", which bears the name of Dante's pseudonym "Tony Redgrave" (etched on Ebony and Ivory by Nico's grandmother, the gunsmith who created them). The reason for the shared name is a mild plot point - Dante and Vergil's childhood home was in this city, and Dante took a new name to stay incognito, at his mother's order.
• Aside from Dante's "Tony Redgrave" alias, DMC5 also contains the first in-game spoken and mentioned references to the gunsmith Nell Goldstein, the designer of Dante's Ebony & Ivory handguns (as detailed by her granddaughter Nico), and the .45 Art Works, all of which are concepts from the DMC1 prequel novel. At least according to Nico, the woman's portrait on Ebony's grip is Nell herself.
• In Morrison's second letter, he narrates a lot of plot points that were established or brought up by the DMC1 novel, namely; Dante using "Tony Redgrave" as an alias, Dante frequenting a dive bar named "Bobby's Cellar" for information and bounty-hunting services, Dante's old handguns jamming a lot (which led to Nell Goldstein crafting Ebony & Ivory especially for him), and the circumstances surrounding Nell's death.
• The first half of Morrison's fourth letter basically summarizes the plot of the first game, including its spoilers such as what Trish really is and her true purpose for luring Dante to that island.
• Urizen has the same type of Third Eye on his forehead as the "Prince of Darkness" Mundus had.
• Flame demons' penchant for turning into gauntlet-based Devil Arms, like Ifrit, returns with Dante's new Balrog flame gauntlets and greaves. Nico's Weapon Report on Balrog also describes Dante as a "seasoned vet' when it comes to handling hot stuff", acknowledging that it's not the first time Dante used a flaming weapon.
• V enlists Dante's help by mentioning that a powerful demon is about to resurrect. Dante says a request like that is a familiar tune, as he heard it many times already. In the prologue of DMC1, Trish said an almost similar request; she sought Dante's help to put an end to the Underworld twenty years after its emperor, Mundus, resurrected.
• V uses shrunk-down versions of the Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare enemies as his familiars. In Nico's reports, she also notes that Griffon is similar to the demon Dante defeated long ago, while there are also other beasts just like Shadow. When the three of them are fought in Mission 18, the game even plays the same music tracks that were played in the first game. Dante himself also mentions that it's like being back on Mallet Island.
• When she questions V on Urizen's origins, Trish tells V that she is from the underworld, referencing her characterization (way back the first game) as a demon created by Mundus.
• The mysterious hooded assailant who ripped off Nero's Devil Bringer has a pale white skin and blue veins all over his face, just like what happened to Vergil's face when he removes his helmet as Nelo Angelo.
• One of Dante's taunts has him praising his enemy for having "guts and honor", something he previously noted and appreciated in Nelo Angelo back in 1.
• One of the loading screens shows a silhouette of Trish in the lower-left corner of the screen, referencing her character silhouette and pose in the logo of 1.
• Although "Judgement" is a new Limit Break for Dante in his Sin Devil Trigger form, its animation references Sparda's swordplay and movements from the narrated opening clip of the first game.
• Mundus pissed Dante enough to the point where the latter's eyes glow red even when he's in human form. Dante's Super Costume in this game also permanently makes his eyes glow red even when he's in human form.
• The first thing Cavaliere Angelo does in Mission 11 is throw a motocycle at Dante. Its host, Trish, similarly throws a motorcycle at Dante when they first met in Devil May Cry.

To Devil May Cry 2:

• A map with a knife stuck into it can be seen on the notice board in Dante's office, the knife sticking over South America, and referring back to the intro of 2 where Lucia threw a knife into the map of Vie de Marli.
• Beryl from 2's prequel novel gets referenced as the title of a magazine Nero reads while waiting for Nico in the Qliphoth.
• Dante's melee weapons are referred to as "Swords", just like in 2, rather than "Devil Arms", as they are in other games in the series.
• Dante having the alternate Sin Devil Trigger form that's stronger than his regular Devil Trigger form references his "Majin" Devil Trigger form in 2, lifting some similar gameplay elements such as the ability to throw fireballs, or temporarily having new moves.

To Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening:

• In the opening intro, Nero sets up a vinyl in the jukebox at the back of the van while he and Nico are driving into Red Grave City. When they see demons, "Devil Trigger" starts playing right before Nero goes to town on them, just like how Dante gets his jukebox going before battling Hell Prides. When their trip is halted by demons in the ending cutscene, Nico also kicks her jukebox in order to make it work, just like Dante smashing his jukebox.
• Dante taunts King Cerberus with the same "come on puppy, I'll take you out for a walk" lines and poses he used to mess with the plain old Cerberus back in 3. Additionally, a few notes from the old Cerberus theme play before the fight. After he acquires the Devil Arm, the sequence he goes through starts off just like his weapon demonstration from the original Cerberus before going into the weapon's new electric sansetsukon and fire staff forms. Nico's Weapon Report on the King Cerberus also mentions the old Cerberus Devil Arm that Dante used to have.
• One of the bosses is a demon knight riding a time-stopping Elder Geryon, which is actually a relative of Geryon, the horse boss from 3. Griffon also lampshades or references the similarity of the horse demons by recalling that Dante already defeated Geryon before.
• In a New Game Plus playthrough, the bonus photo for defeating the Elder Geryon Knight in Mission 5 has the caption "Talk about horsepower". Dante made the exact same horse-related pun when he met the horse demon Geryon in 3.
• One of the bosses is Artemis, the Devil Arm gun you acquired back in 3, fused with a human to give it a body of its own. Nico's Report also references this as she explains to Nero that Artemis started out as a gun from the Underworld.
• Artemis is fought in a library. Its host, Lady, was also fought in a library in 3.
• When performing Balrog's Break Spiral move, Dante says "I'm on fire!" in the exact same way he said the quote when performing Spiral's Sniper move in 3.
• When Nero is walking through a hallway before the Artemis boss fight, he monologues "Without strength, you can't protect anything", which is a part of Vergil's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Dante in 3.
• When Urizen punches and breaks Rebellion, knocking Dante out of Devil Trigger and sending him flying back, the camera zooms in close to Dante's right eye and Urizen's image is reflected there. In 3, after their first boss fight, Dante gets knocked back by Vergil and the camera zooms in close to Dante's right eye with Vergil's image being reflected just before he stabs Dante with Rebellion.
• During Nero's second confrontation with Urizen, he manages a single slice across Urizen's palm — identical to how Vergil struck Dante's hand at the very end of 3.
• During Dante's final battle, one of Vergil's cinematic attacks has him impale Dante with Yamato in the same way he did atop Temen-ni-gru. He even remarks that this reminds him of "old times".
• Lady tells Nero that killing your father is something you'll never recover from, referencing her own act of patricide years ago in 3.
• Morrison's third letter narrates how he met Dante and Lady, then he basically summarizes what happened after the events of the third game. Morrison was intrigued of what happened between the two, and Lady slipped out "cutting ties that bind.", mentioning Dante having killed his brother, and Lady her own father.
• The visual effects of Vergil's Judgement Cut resemble the move's original spherical variant from 3 more than the "multiple straight slashes" variant from 4:SE.
• The finale of this game also has similarities to the finale of 3. Vergil has to dive into the Underworld to sever the Qliphoth, but Dante follows him this time around. As both brothers run forward into the Underworld, the camera also pans above, just like how the camera in The Stinger of 3 pans above Mundus' eyes when Vergil runs forward to fight him.
• Also in the finale, Dante cues Vergil to say the "Jackpot!" Catchphrase with him when they fight demons in the Underworld, although the latter dares him not to say it. This references the time when they said "Jackpot!" as they defeated Arkham in 3.
• According to the boss report file on Vergil, Lady once told Nico about the time Vergil "lost to Dante and got his ass thrown into the depths of the underworld", summarizing the ending of the third game.
• The color palette of Vergil's EX Color costume references his default outfit in 3, from the lighter shade of blue, the gold linings on his coat, to his brown gloves and boots.
• From Vergil's "Bury The Light" Image Song, the line "I am the storm that is approaching" is a nod to 3, when Arkham tells Vergil that "a storm is approaching" in reference to the coming conflict with Dante and Lady.
• From the Special Edition, Nico's Reports on Beowulf has her comment that Vergil "thrashed the mighty demon Beowulf so bad, hardly anything was left of him. Still managed to make these gauntlets and boots from the scraps!" This references Vergil's one-sided Curb-Stomp Battle of killing Beowulf, then forcibly obtaining a Devil Arm from his corpse. Afterwards, Nico correctly guesses that Beowulf has a terrible grudge on Sparda, he decides to take it out on Sparda's bloodline. There's also a short note mentioning Dante told her about his fight with Beowulf as well.
• When charging up Beowulf's Hell on Earth attack, Vergil might say "Now I'm a little motivated", which is one of his Boss Banters in 3.

To Devil May Cry 4:

• The mysterious figure who yanked off Nero's Devil Breaker wears a dark hooded cloak to conceal his face. Once his identity as Vergil is revealed, it retroactively serves as a reference to the opening cutscene of Vergil's campaign in the Special Edition of 4, wherein he's also wearing a dark hooded cloak.
• The Visions of V manga shows a flashback scene of Vergil being tortured by Mundus (as an aftermath of their battle in The Stinger of 3). By that point, the Yamato is already broken and Vergil lost his grip on his own weapon. This connects to the plot point established in 4 where the Yamato was already broken when it was found by the Order of the Sword and kept in Agnus' research facility.
• The events of 4 are collectively labeled as the "Fortuna Incident" according to Nico's reports. Nero's library file also contains a brief mention of him establishing a connection with Yamato during said incident, which was a Wham Episode in that game's story.
• As explained in Before the Nightmare, the Overture Devil Breaker was created using a Blitz demon's corpse.
• At the start of the game, Nero asks Nico "How's it feel to be rescuing the guy that killed your father?". Nico's father, Agnus, was killed by Dante in the previous game.
• Nero's "What? No chit-chat or monologue? Just gettin' right to the point, huh?" was previously Nero's initial reaction to Dante in their first encounter. This is also one for his first meeting with a Bianco Angelo.
• The very first line to the song "Devil Trigger" is "I'll endure the exile", a line spoken by Nero after his Devil Trigger woke, appropriately enough.
  Nero: And if I become a demon, so be it. I will endure the exile. Anything to protect her.
• One of Nero's new S-rank taunts has him perform his old Unorthodox Reload (chucking some bullets in the air and then swinging out Blue Rose's cylinder to catch them in mid-air) from the opening of 4.
• A cutscene shows Nero planting Red Queen's blade into the ground and revving it. He did the same thing back before facing off with Dante in 4 — even the camera angle in both scenes is identical.
• Dante's Devil Trigger is a graphically updated version of the one he possessed and reveals that his "coat" is actually a pair of curled up wings. (If you go back and look at the old character model, it looks like this was actually the intent all along.) His new form is heavily inspired by concept designs for the Perfect Devil Trigger form originally intended to play a large role in 4's story.
• The epilogue of the Deadly Fortune novel ends with Nero having received his own neon "Devil May Cry" from Dante, which Nero and Nico then installs on their van. Before the Nightmare shows that Dante had requested Morrison to have the sign delivered to Nero.
• Nico's Character Report on Trish briefly narrates her time infiltrating the Order of the Sword (as Gloria), and it's also when Nero first met her (referencing the cutscene in Mission 3 and Gloria's Establishing Character Moment).
• One of Trish's alternate costumes give her white hair, brown skin, and white clothing, just like when she disguised herself as "Gloria".
• Nero's alternate costume has its colors being mostly white, referring to the Order of the Sword uniforms. His hair also becomes dark brown, making the costume a reference to Credo. In Devil Trigger form, Nero's eyes are red while his body receives a purple-and-gold theme, both referencing Angelo Credo.
• Nico made Dr. Faust based on Agnus's research on the Faust enemy back in 4. A minor dialogue also mentions that Nero gave Nico some files pertaining to the Order, referencing the Order of the Sword, an organization which included Nero and Agnus.
• In 4, Nero's Devil Bringer arm would begin glowing when people with demonic blood appeared, such as when Dante showed up in the prologue to kill Sanctus. When Nero meets the cloaked stranger, his arm reacts in the same way, making him immediately question if the stranger is a demon.
• The Buster Arm Devil Breaker has a red-and-blue color motif, evoking the colors of Nero's original Devil Bringer arm from 4 (in contrast, DMC5 has a new black-and-blue color motif for his redesigned Devil Bringer as seen in the garage flashback cutscene). This makes sense, as Nico designed said Devil Breaker to artificially recreate Nero's demonic arm.
• Upon eating the Qliphoth's fruit and revealing his true form, Urizen's arms subtly resemble the appearance of Nero's Devil Bringer arm in 4.
• The Gilgamesh boss is a demon version of the Devil Arm of the same name you acquired after beating Echidna in 4. Nico's file on it also explains that Gilgamesh is the name of a demonic metal from the underworld, and it happens that the boss is an organic Qliphoth root fused with said metal. This is given a second nod in Nico's Weapon Report for the Rawhide Devil Breaker; she designed the arm using the "underworld metal" obtained from the Gilgamesh boss. These details reference the Flavor Text of the Gilgamesh in 4; being a "devilish material that absorbs organic metal and transforms it to steel".
• When Dante clears the main puzzle of Mission 12, he says "It's been awhile since I've used my brain this much!". Following the updated series chronology, it's really been a while. Even in 4, Dante's response to the Dice Game has him cut the die in half because he didn't want to "use his brain" by solving the puzzle in the intended way.
• Dante's mid-air taunt has him throw a rose, just like he did with the Lucifer Devil Arm from the fourth game. One of his S-rank taunts also has him say, "And you are set free," just as he did when first acquiring Lucifer.
• Nico's Weapon Report on Balrog mentions the Fire Hell region that was ruled by Berial. The latter's death gave way for Balrog to inherit the burning throne.
• During the fight with King Cerberus, he will boast of having greater command over ice than Bael, and his flames being greater than Berial's.
• During The Reveal, Dante explains that he has suspicions of Nero being his nephew when they first met, but was more certain when he saw how the Yamato reacted. This brings to mind the climax of 4 wherein Dante witnesses Nero wielding the Yamato and having a spectral demon fighting alongside him. After that, Dante allowed Nero to use the Yamato, saying that it belongs to the family.
• Just before Nero unlocks his Devil Trigger form, he expresses guilt over Credo's death from the previous game.
• Nero's Devil Trigger has bangs like his original haircut in 4. On that note, the shot of him reaching out just before he gains his Devil Trigger is identical to when he's reaching for Kyrie before his second fight with Dante.
• Doubling as an Ascended Meme from 4, the pose that Dante makes in the ending still for the Special Edition has him do his "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" pose from that game, all while Vergil and Nero are casually taking in the scenery!

To Devil May Cry: The Animated Series:

• The picture unlocked for finishing Mission 18 with an S-Rank in New Game Plus depicts Dante inside Nico's van, sadly eating a strawberry sundae - it's a direct recreation of a memetic frame from Episode 5 of the anime.
• The character Machiavelli was mentioned before in the first Drama CD of the animated series, where Trish recognizes the weapon that possessed Enzo's arm as one of Machiavelli's creations. This game mentions Machiavelli via Nico's Report on the Artemis boss, where he's identified as the creator of the Artemis gun, and is "one of the Underworld's top gunsmiths".

To Before the Nightmare:

• Nico's Weapon Report on Balrog briefly mentions Dante's encounter with the beast before it became his Devil Arm.