Trivia / Devil May Cry 4

• Acting for Two:
  • In the Japanese version:
    • Kosei Hirota voices Bael and Dagon.
    • Kenji Sugimura voices the Bianco and Alto Angelos.
  • As for the English version:
    • Laura Napoli serves as the motion capture actor for Kyrie and Lady.
    • Dan Southworth not only did the motion capture for Credo and Vergil, but he is also the voice actor for the latter character.
  • Gloria and Trish are voiced by Atsuko Tanaka and Danielle Burgio in both languages.
• Actor-Inspired Element: According to scenario writer Bingo Morihashi and lead motion manager Hiroyuki Nara in the 3142 Graphic Arts interviews, Agnus's stutter was suggested by his voice actor, T.J. Storm. The Hamlet-esque performance scene between Agnus and Dante in Mission 17 was also an impromptu suggestion during a recording session.
• Approval of God: While Hideki Kamiya primarily identifies with the first game (the only one he actually worked on), it's worth noting that he apparently used DMC4 as research material for Bayonetta.
• Creator Backlash: While Hideki Kamiya, who directed the first game, used this one for inspiration when working on Bayonetta, he said that the "Dice thing is SHIT." To be fair, even the game's fans agree with him on that one.
• Development Gag:
  • In the epilogue, Nero's Devil Bringer arm glows gold as Kyrie touches it. A heartwarming moment, but it's also a reference to the game's early beta version wherein the arm has a completely golden color theme instead of the final version's blue.
  • In the Special Edition, Nero's "Prototype" costume is a reference to his early prototype concept art.
• Dueling Games: Within the same franchise, no less! Two Updated Re Release games - DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition and Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition were both released on 2015. The latter game from the original continuity ended up selling more and had a better reception than the former.
• Inspiration for the Work:
  • As Yuichiro Hiraki explains in the Devil May Cry 3142 Graphic Arts artbook, the inspiration for the Scarecrows was the villain of the Drunken Monkey film who has a pose with one raised leg.
  • The townscapes of Fortuna Island were based on some real-world locations. According to model supervisor Jun Ikawa, a research team was even sent to Rome and the Vatican in Italy, and then Istanbul and Cappadocia in Turkey.
• Meme Acknowledgement: Nero is compared a lot to Ichigo of Bleach because they have many similarities; both are voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, they wield a BFS and a katana, they have supernatural abilities, and their love interests are both red-headed, white-clad Damsels in Distress voiced by Stephanie Sheh. While this meme/trend started on Devil May Cry 4, Johnny Yong Bosch himself noticed the similarities and posted a compilation on his Instagram account after Devil May Cry 5 was released on 2019.
• No Export for You:
  • Some supplementary materials were never released outside of Japan, such as the two-volume novelization, Deadly Fortune, and the Devil May Cry 4 Devil's Material Collection artbook.
  • The pachislot machines (a combination of a traditional slots machine with a pachinko machine) for 4, Devil May Cry X: The Last Judgement (the "X" pronounced "cross"), and CR Devil May Cry 4 were only available in Japan. The first two, produced by Enterrise, used the in-game assets that included additional scenes and lines not seen in either the original game's release or the Special Edition, to which online comments have noted that DMCX somehow tied Vergil's story much tighter into 4 compared to the Special Edition release.
  • The Special Edition for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was only released physically in Japan, with the game being digital-only in the west, much to the chagrin of fans.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Danielle Burgio voices Trish instead of Sara Lafleur.
  • Kate Higgins voices Lady instead of Kari Wahlgren for the Special Edition.
• Pre-Order Bonus: Trish's Gloria disguise and Lady's DMC3 outfit were given free for those who pre-ordered the Special Edition. Afterwards, these costumes are still made available as Downloadable Content.
• Production Nickname:
  • From the 3142 Graphic Arts, illustrator Tatsuya Yoshikawa says the early prototype designs of DMC4 Dante seen in the E3 2005 teaser and the Tokyo Game Show 2005 teaser were nicknamed "Snowy Mountain Dante" and "Back Alley Dante", respectively.
  • According to the scenario writer, "Noble Nero" was the nickname for Nero's early prototype version which was likened to Sherlock Holmes.
• Refitted for Sequel: As mentioned in page 223 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook, Director Hideaki Itsuno wanted to include ordinary human NPCs in DMC3, but wasn't able to do so due to hardware constraints; the PS2 lacked the necessary processing power to render many of them at once. DMC4 is the first game in the series to have several human NPCs on-screen (mostly during cutscenes) because it's primarily developed for the next-generation consoles like the PS3.
• Role Reprise: Toshiyuki Morikawa, Atsuko Tanaka and Fumiko Orikasa return from the anime as Dante, Trish, and Lady in the Special Edition.
• Troubled Production: Not to the same degree as Devil May Cry 2, but this game was underfunded (reportedly, it had the same budget as the third game, which was on a previous generation console), as well as pressed to be released by a deadline, which is why Dante's levels and boss fights are retreads of Nero's. And this is on top of the Playstation 3 being notoriously difficult to program for.
  Hideaki Itsuno: And sure, there were some aspects that dissatisfied the players, the fact that you had to traverse back over previous levels during the latter half of the game. Well, it turns out the budget was similar to what we had on Devil May Cry 3, creating the game in the same way would have meant we would have run out of budget, and also we wouldn't have been able to ship in time.
• Uncredited Role: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn provided the uncredited voice of Echidna in the English version.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Dante's final design in the game is quite different from what was initially shown in 2005. His design in the E3 2005 teaser seemed to lean towards roughly 3 if the coat and hair was anything to go by. The Tokyo Game Show 2005 teaser had him with the hair and facial design resembling more of 2 while the character's attitude was that of his 3 incarnation (what with him shooting and then slicing a camera). The oval belt buckle remained, whereas the longcoat was changed into the duster. Neither teaser showed him with any type of gloves.
  • Speaking of Dante, he was going to have completely original levels with original bosses after the reveal of a Greater-Scope Villain, but time and budget constraints caused this to be thrown out and Dante’s levels became retreads of Nero's. This would explain why the weapons Dante gets have nothing to do with the demons he kills to get them, which is a change from 3 where the Devil Arms were related to the demons Dante fought.
  • There were concept designs for a "Perfect Devil Trigger" form for Dante, which was originally intended to play a large role in this game's story. In page 221 of the 3-1-4-2 Graphic Arts artbook, Hideaki Itsuno also mentioned it◊ as a "Double Devil Trigger" that would give Dante another transformation stage. The 2008 artbook, Devil May Cry 4 Devil's Material Collection, also described it as a form that surpasses Sparda's power, but would drive Dante insane. Sadly, there wasn't enough time to implement that in this game, so it was scrapped.
  • Nero was originally going to be named Rodin, after the famed French sculptor who once created a motif of a Hellgate mentioned in The Divine Comedy. He was additionally intended to be given a more complete Devil Trigger,◊ as a counterbalance to the aforementioned Perfect Devil Trigger conceived for Dante.◊
  • Nero's Devil Bringer arm and all abilities associated with it are colored gold in the early stages of development, in the TGS 2006 trailer, and in the 2008 trial demo of the game. His Snatch ability also produced a large flame-like effect around the entire arm, but mostly prominent on the elbow. Footage from the TGS 2006 trailer alone shows even more aspects that were different from the final build, such as a different HUD and different Stylish Ranks. Nero is also shown fighting a crowd of Scarecrows near a staircase, but in the final build, that staircase area from Mission 2 is devoid of any battle.
  • Nero was originally intended to wear a white Order of the Sword uniform, and it would've took the slot of his "Prototype" costume in the Special Edition (the inclusion of the Prototype costume was a personal choice of Director Hideaki Itsuno).
  • As shown by early concept designs from the Devil May Cry 4 Devil's Material Collection artbook, Angelo Credo's shield was originally white-themed just like his body, and it went through changes in shape and size. Some of the scrapped designs made it look like a huge straightforward Wing Shield that mostly covers his entire left side.
  • Commentary from the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook also mentions how the Scarecrows would've referenced My Neighbor Totoro by having "soot sprites" filling them from the inside (which would leak out if they're cut open). This idea didn't get a lot of support.
  • As detailed by Scenario Writer Bingo Morihashi, page 210 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook also reveals a lot of significant production changes for the Order of the Sword members:
    • Nero originally started out as a Sherlock Holmes-esque character who would sip tea as he fought off demons. Bingo called this prototype version as "Noble Nero".
    • Credo would've been the game's Final Boss, but it would've affected Kyrie a lot and make her resent Nero in the end. This idea never went through because it ruins the established relationship between Nero and Kyrie, aside from rehashing the "family betrayal" theme that was already used in DMC3. It also justifies why the finalized version of Credo is a Hero Antagonist instead of an all-out villain.
    • Gloria wasn't actually meant to be Trish in disguise. Initially, Gloria would've been her own character (separate from Trish) and a straight-up villain working for the Order, but "it created a number of problems".
    • The Vicar Sanctus was originally named "Benedict", but they quickly had to drop that idea when coincidentally, Pope Benedict was elected in real-life.
  • One of the early concept designs for Nero depicted him wearing a hood, as mentioned and shown in page 214 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook.
  • One of Sanctus' early concept designs showed him having cybernetic attachments, and even the Art Director Tatsuya Yoshikawa found it funny, as noted in page 214 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook.
  • In page 216 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook interviews, Motion Artist Yuichiro Hiraki and Model Supervisor Jun Ikawa confirmed that the songstress role in the prologue cutscene was originally given to a different character and not Kyrie, but that idea was scrapped due to time constraints.
  • According to page 218 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook interviews, someone suggested Credo utilizing the Angelos while fighting Nero in Mission 8, but several members of the team, notably Credo's motion artists, objected to that idea because it would've depicted Credo using cowardly tactics, which strays far from his characterization.
• Word of God: Even though the characters in the franchise have Vague Age at best, an interview with Hideaki Itsuno on 2018 reveals that Nero is a teenager during the events of DMC4.
• Word of Saint Paul:
  • Before Devil May Cry 5, the question of whether or not Nero was Vergil's son was a matter of much debate. Prior to that game, this had been confirmed by an official artbook (3142 Graphic Arts), the official Deadly Fortune novelization by the lead writer of DMC4, and a statement by a translator, but only strongly implied in-game. Because the Deadly Fortune novel deviates from the plot of DMC4 at multiple points, it was treated semi-canon at best, and a part of the fanbase vehemently opposed the idea until DMC5 settled the matter permanently. Though, not all aspects are confirmed—such as exactly who Nero's mother was.
  • Just how important is Kyrie to Nero? In page 216 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook, Motion Artist Yuichiro Hiraki talked about the relationship between the two. He bets that "without Kyrie, Nero would have followed a path similar to Vergil's". Additionally, Kyrie and Credo are the only reasons why Nero puts up with the Order of the Sword. Hiraki then brings up a hilarious What If? scenario to justify it – If Kyrie wasn't in the Mission 1 cutscene, Nero wouldn't have to drop-kick Dante in the face, and would just have wandered off instead because it's "not [his] problem". Worst case, if Kyrie were to die, Hiraki bets Nero would likely go to the demon world in search for power, just like Vergil.
  • In page 217 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook, character illustrator Tatsuya Yoshikawa revealed some additional aspects regarding Dante and Lady:
    • Dante is around 40 years old by the events of DMC4. This is yet another answer to the Vague Age of the DMC characters which left fans wondering for a long time.
    • Lady wears sunglasses in this game, but they're not just for fashion; they're also meant to practically hide her heterochromia.

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