Heartwarming / Devil May Cry 5

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"I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!"

For a game that is about killing demons as stylishly as possible, there are still moments that can even make a devil cry out of happiness.

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• It's somewhat heartwarming that one of the things that still carried over from the anime is Patty. She's apparently been trying to get Dante so he could attend her 18th birthday party, and sounds overjoyed at being able to chat to him again. And even though he hangs up the phone and disconnects it, wanting out of the birthday party, it's not because he doesn't want to spend time with her, but because he wants to celebrate it with her in private because he feels he's a bit of a freak.
• V saying "I'm glad to see you look so well." to Lady is quite sweet when considering the fact that the last time Vergil saw her, she was dejectedly sobbing to herself in the Temen-ni-gru's library. Not to mention Vergil also witnessed how Arkham pierced Lady's leg with her own weapon.
  • There's also how when he meets the Elder Geryon Knight, he denotes that he knows what it really is and will be gentle with it. It's later shown that Trish was trapped inside as a Living Battery. Given how some of Vergil's character was made from his mother's death, it's nice to see that he at least cares about Trish's existence as well.
• It's incredibly brief, but after Dante saves Trish, he asks her if she's okay and then when she tries to tell him the truth about Urizen, he tells her not to think about it and to just rest instead. Dante puts on a strong face and is a never ending fountain of one liners for most of the game, but one of the few times he shows his softer side is when dealing with the partner that's been with him the longest.
  • Another moment like that is at the end of the following mission, where Dante finds the ruins of his childhood home. For him, this is where it all began, and he can only quietly express his wonder that it hasn't been completely destroyed.
    Dante: Holy shit... Can't believe any of this is still standing...
• Dante's reason for telling Nero to stay out of the fight with Urizen/Vergil? He doesn't want Nero to have the guilt and trauma of having to kill his own father. Doubles as as Tear Jerker, since Dante has had to kill Vergil before and probably knows first-hand what it's like to have to put down family for the greater good.
• After getting saved by the girls, Lady tries to cheer up Nero, who just learned that the one responsible for all this mess is none other than Vergil, his father. Though she tries her best, an angered Nero flies out from the van to stop this sibling rivalry. This is especially poignant when you consider that Lady has had her own share of daddy issues.
• Right before Dante gets to Vergil, he has to fight against V's, or rather Vergil's, familiars; Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare. Before the fight, Griffon essentially notes they're aware that they're living representations of Vergil's trauma while he was Nelo Angelo. The reason they're fighting Dante now is basically a mix of ensuring Dante will have a warm-up before dealing with Vergil, and committing Suicide by Cop so Vergil won't have to live with the trauma he endured. Dante even gives a somewhat heartfelt and funny farewell to Griffon as he's the last to fade away.
  Griffon: Godspeed, Dante. You'll need it.
  Dante: Rest in peace, little chicken. It's been a bash.
  • Dante's fight with the familiars, specifically Griffon, is even more poignant in regards of the first game. As Griffon was one of the few foes that Dante genuinely respected, despite their enmity for one another, so much so that Dante's motivation for going after Mundus for far more personal reasons started with Mundus callously killing Griffon off in his finest moment for failing him one too many times. In a way, the fight with Griffon and Dante's subsequent respect as he's dying comes across more of the proper send-off that Dante felt the demon deserved at last.
  • What's more, Vergil's "World of V" special in the Special Edition, shows he can still use Yamato to sunder himself back into V and his familiars for an all-out assault. It could be seen as their Suicide by Cop working not by permanently killing them, but by simply allowing Vergil to move past his trauma and use it to forge a new path from the experience. The events will always be a part of him, but he's still able to find strength in them rather than fear or weakness.
• Before going to the final fight, Nero finds a payphone. Usually, he calls Nico, but this time he calls Kyrie to ask for advice regarding what to do about Dante and Vergil. Kyrie reassures that he always knows what's right, and to not doubt himself now. Additionally, Nero remembers Credo and recalls his regret for being unable to save him, while swearing he will save Dante and Vergil from themselves.
  Nero: I couldn't save Credo. To this day, I hate myself for not having enough strength. But this time is different, I swear. I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!!! *rushes forward, awakening his new and complete Devil Trigger, regenerating a new human arm in the process*
• The simple act of Nero throwing himself between his father and uncle in an attempt to make them stop fighting.
  Nero: I won't let you kill each other. There are other ways of settling your differences. I'm putting a stop to this sibling rivalry.
  Vergil: *Laughs* Ahh, you came all this way just for that.
  Nero: Vergil... V... whatever you call yourself... Dante's not gonna die here, and neither are you. Do you have a problem with that?
  • In its own way, the fact that Vergil and Dante just sort of go with it. They were ready to tear each other apart, but when their respective son/nephew comes along and tells them that he isn't going to let them kill each other, they agree to a non-lethal proxy fight to settle the matter.
• In a way, the factor that one of the first things that Nero brings up to Kyrie is that he might have a family. Not just the family of Kyrie and Credo, but an actual biological family of his father, Vergil, and his uncle, Dante. The factor that his first reaction is to get them to not kill each other, which also happens to awaken his actual Devil Trigger, it wouldn't be so far a stretch to say that Nero's Devil Trigger, as it was with Kyrie, was born from The Power of Love for his biological family. It also neatly punctuates what Nero said to Sanctus in DMC4 over how the latter didn't get strength from the sword Sparda because he lacked love, and here, it's enough to let Nero get a full on Devil Trigger.
• After Nero fights down Vergil, the latter decides that they must go through the portal and seal it in the Demon World. While Nero cannot be convinced of the idea because it will seal them off from the Human World, Dante tells him that it's only because of him they can go, because he is the one they can trust to look after the Human World, taking over for him.
• While he doesn't let his composure crack when Vergil learns that Nero is his son and not his nephew like he originally thought, he sounds almost pleasantly surprised. He and Dante actually stop fighting for a moment and Dante even sounds amused that he couldn't put two and two together.
  Vergil: Nero is my son?
  Dante: Yeah, dumbass! You can't remember through that thick skull of yours?
  Vergil: Well, well... That was a long time ago.
  Dante: *Laughs* I guess you were young once, too. As much as I'd love to hear that story, I think it's about time we...
  Vergil: ...ended this.
• V and Nero throughout the game strike up an Odd Friendship helping each other frequently on their path to Urizen, to the point that Nero earns V's trust enough to be told the truth about Urizen. The reveal that V was, in essence, Vergil all along, is pretty sweet when one considers all of their quality time spent together completely unaware they are father and son. This also means that Vergil's first real friend turned out be his own son.
  • The first thing Nero asks when Vergil is restored is where V went. He also addresses Vergil as V when he confronts him, and actually is shown reading V's William Blake poetry book during the epilogue, despite being dismissive of it earlier. Despite their differences, Nero grew to care about V despite initially being suspicious of him.
  • This is shown in Mission 16 after Nero saves V from Malphas. He tries to tell V to head back noting that his body won't last much longer however V begs for Nero to help him reach Urizen as his last request. Despite wanting to get revenge on Urizen for taking his arm Nero helps V walk forward merely grumbling that Dante will definitely beat them to the punch. It really shows how much of a good person Nero is that he would give up his change for revenge to help his friend.
  • Before Vergil leaves with the Yamato he genuinely thanks Nero for helping him recomplete himself. Considering that this is long before Vergil finds out that Nero is his son it shows just how grateful he must have been, especially since there is no way the proud former Vergil would have thanked anyone.
• It may have taken about two decades, but finally, the sons of Sparda have reconciled... in a way. They are still rivals to the end, but their fighting has become more of a friendly competition and they talk to each other more as brothers than enemies. Dante starts keeping scores, and Vergil, surprisingly, plays along. The game ends with the two of them switching back and forth between fighting demons and fighting each other.
• If the main menu screens after completing the game are taken as canon, then Dante and Vergil eventually did find their way out of Hell and reunite with the gang after all. Not only that, but screens show Vergil sitting around with Dante and Nero, showing the possibility of them having reconciled enough to have a peaceful moment together.
  • Doubly so when you notice that V is there as well, meaning that they may have found a way to give him his own existence and negate his Death of Personality.
• Once Son of Sparda mode is unlocked, the game starts to take pictures of the first time you kill any enemies. Special mention goes to the picture of the Qliphoth Roots because if you manage to S-rank the mission, a second picture accompanies it. The aftermath shows the soldiers that survived the encounter gathered around Nero cheering for him while he smiles just a tad awkwardly.
• When in the Gallery and reading Nico's reports, if you look over the Buster Arm, it turns out the reason she made it was to recreate the demonic arm that Vergil stole from Nero. She sounds a bit happy at first, before lamenting on how it tends to break. Given she makes all of the Devil Breakers, it's really sweet that she tried making a replacement for Nero's lost Devil Bringer. It even looks similar too! Not only does the Buster Arm recreate the Devil Bringer's Buster moves, it is actually even stronger than the original in-game.
  "I only had one goal in mind with this beast: recreate the demonic arm that bastard stole from you. I bet ya been itching to chuck around baddies again, am I right?
  Well rejoice! I did it! This arm lets you toss around demons like a boss, even slam them into the ground if you have the hankering!
  ...For a little while, anyway. But that's as tough as I can make this sucker, dammit! I swear!"
• It's rather sweet that Nero's first reaction when seeing a hooded stranger at his door is to welcome them and offer them food, even with what ultimately transpires because of it.
• Trish grabbing V's hand to stop him from falling at the end of Mission 12. Especially since she knows exactly who he really is at this point.
• One of the Randomized Title Screens depict Shadow falling soundly asleep inside Nico's van. Quite a reminder that despite being a demon, it still behaves like a cat.
• From the Special Edition Trailer showing off playable Vergil, it shows that one of Vergil's powerful moves is to use Yamato to turn back into V. Post-launch, the attack is officially named "World of V". In other words, not only did V not suffer a Death of Personality as originally thought, but now, one of Vergil's strongest attacks is to embrace his human side, as V's familiars with Vergil's devil powers make him a veritable army.
  • This is a case of double heartwarming as when Vergil transforms to V, he still has access to his 3 familiars Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare. Despite the non-canon nature of Vergil's run through the game, the developers explicitly stated that whatever abilities Vergil has are still canon (for example his version of Force Edge is conjured from his memories and given form much like his Summoned Swords). It means that while they represent Vergil's trauma as Nelo Angelo, Vergil still decided that they were still worth keeping around if only on some level as V.
• The additional ending scenes added to Vergil mode in the Special Edition shows Dante and Vergil upon their arrival in the Underworld. The sight of the them charging the Qliphoth together with their swords drawn brings a powerful sense of closure to fourteen real world years of the Sons of Sparda trying to kill each other in a time where it's not certain if the fans will ever see them again.
• Before Vergil takes a swan dive into hell to chop down the Qliphoth tree, he says goodbye to Nero in his own way, saying that they'll fight again and he'll win. That's not all though, he tosses Nero V's book, which is essentially Vergil's diary. Vergil isn't one for sentiment, and to see him give his son a very personal keepsake warms the heart.

Visions of V

• The Odd Friendship that forms between V and his familiars as the story goes on considering how cold and hostile their initial encounters were. Griffon in particular forms a nice Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with V, often snarking at his expense but also trying his best to look after him from finding him food to making sure he bathes. Griffon even tells V that all of his familiars like him and want him to succeed in his goals. This is hammered home in the penultimate chapter when V and Urizen are looked in battle with the latter calling himself the strong one before V's familiars arrive to help him subdue his demon half:
  Urizen: I disposed of you, and I ate the fruit. I should have obtained everything. I am strong!
  (Cue all of V's familiars dogpiling Urizen.)
  Griffon: Haha! Don't flatter yourself, buddy!
• In one chapter of the manga, depicting the end of Mission 14, V is cornered by Malphas. V knows that he can't take on Malphas in the state that he's in, but also can't turn back. In the moment, V has a traumatic flashback to the day that the Sparda Household was destroyed. Except for this time, Nero is there. All V (and Vergil) ever wanted was to feel as though someone loved him enough to protect him. When Nero saves V, he ends up giving him exactly what he always wanted.
• Ironically the final confrontation between Urizen and V after the formers defeat. After being subdued by V's familiars Urizen rants that he should have been the one to win and insists he is strong. However soon the armor surrounding Urizen shatters, and he transforms into a burned husk as he admits to himself that he was weak all along. V, now having realized what it truly means to become strong, comforts Urizen and embraces him telling him they can be strong together.
• The final conversation Griffon has with V after the latter has successfully remerged with Urizen. Knowing that their time together is over now the nightmares say goodbye to V who can now move forward on his own. Considering it was unknown in the base game if Vergil was even aware of his familiars sacrifice for him this goodbye between V and Griffon is a nice subtle conclusion to their budding friendship throughout the manga.
  Griffon: Well then, we can't go any further. This is the end of the line for us nightmares. See ya!
  V: Yeah.
  Griffon: Hey, look! It's a fine morning.
  (V looks around at his surroundings before noticing that the darkness which represented the nightmares has disappeared.)
  V: True, it's a fine morning.
• Towards the end, V and Urizen merge, and the moment is significantly expanded upon. V ends up having a conversation with Young Vergil (a representation of Vergil's childhood trauma) and it reveals that Vergil does, and always has, truly love Dante as his brother. It also reveals that Vergil genuinely loves fighting Dante, and that fighting is more or less how the brothers show affection to one another.
  Young Vergil:Were better off without those useless things. I'm sure Dante feels the same way.
  V: Well... this may be a matter of conjecture on my end, but if he had a choice, I think that he'd rather have his only brother by his side.
  Young Vergil: But why?
  V: Who else would he quarrel with?
  Young Vergil: ...
  V: Do you hate skirmishing with your younger brother?
  Young Vergil: ... Fighting with Dante is the best.
  V: Then go. Show him no mercy. Prove your strength to your younger brother.