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"Their truth is a lie... their city is an illusion... do not accept the world as it is."
Vergil

DmC: Devil May Cry is a Hack and Slash Action-Adventure Video Game developed by Ninja Theory. First announced as a Continuity Reboot to the Devil May Cry series, it later became a prequel, and was eventually released as an Alternate Continuity set in a parallel universe.

In this alternate continuity, demons secretly run the world, controlling everything from the media to the financial sector to food production, and keeping a close eye on all. Living on the fringes of the brainwashed society is Dante, the orphaned son of an angel and a demon at odds with the demons who have made his life hell for as long as he can remember. Over the course of his battles through the twisted streets of Limbo, Dante is contacted by a mysterious psychic named Kat on behalf of The Order, a rogue group led by Dante's long lost brother Vergil. Vergil, a millionaire computer genius, is hell-bent on exposing the demons to the world and freeing Limbo City from their clutches.

Gameplay combines multiple elements from previous entries, with further emphasis on platforming and aerial combos: the Stance System, for instance, now involves Dante switching between demonic and angelic powers on the fly in both combat and exploration segments. However, a large arsenal of weapons is still available, including the classic longsword, a demonic axe, an angelic scythe, and flaming gauntlets. Dante's signature Devil Trigger also returns, now allowing you to temporarily freeze time for even more carnage. Exploration and platforming makes use of the Malice, where Dante alternates between the gloomy-looking real world and a demonic parallel world with distorted architecture and vivid colors where even the city itself is trying to kill you.

DmC was released in North America and Europe on January 15, 2013 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and on January 25 for Windows. The game was remastered with a Definitive Edition featuring all DLC included for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well as the graphical capabilities of the original PC version. New features include hard-locking on enemies, a higher difficulty mode beyond Dante Must Die called "Gods Must Die", new game modifiers such as Turbo (which speeds things up), "Must Style" (where enemies won't take damage until the Stylish Rank is S or higher), and "Hardcore" modes (which introduces gameplay changes that make the game a little closer to the old Devil May Cry titles), and a Bloody Palace mode for Vergil. There are also new costumes (such as a Devil May Cry 1-styled Dante outfit). Certain gameplay nuances were also tweaked (such as being able to damage enemies with anything when they previously required a specific weapon alignment to be damaged).

The game has a prequel graphic novel of its own, titled DmC: Devil May Cry - The Chronicles of Vergil, which depicts Vergil's first meeting with and recruitment of Kat, as well as his subsequent efforts to find the missing Dante. Its canonicity is debatable. There is also a Downloadable Content episode released after launch, called "Vergil's Downfall" that focuses on the namesake character.


Tropes for the game and its spin-offs include:

  • Adaptation Dye-Job:
    • Dante is naturally dark-haired in this universe. Vergil's is still white. Dante's hair turns white during his Devil Trigger and permanently at the end.
    • Dante and Vergil's mother Eva has red hair in this continuity. In the classic universe, she was blonde.
  • Adaptation Species Change: Dante and Vergil's mother, Eva, was a human in the original series. In this depiction, she was an angel. As a result, this also means the same treatment applies to Dante and Vergil; being changed from Human Demon Hybrids to half-angel/half-demon nephilim.
  • Adaptational Superpower Change: The Devil Trigger. In the original games, it was a Super Mode that gives Dante and Vergil a more demonic appearance and boost their attack power. In DmC, it gives Dante the ability to stop time ala Quicksilver and Vergil to make a duplicate of himself like Doppelganger.
  • Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: In line with the series, the price of items goes up each time you buy one. Thankfully though, it doesn't apply to ability and weapon upgrades this time.
  • Airborne Mook: Bathos, Shielded Pathos and Harpy are flying demons that attack you from above. The latter are very susceptible to firearms and would fall if their wings are damaged enough.
  • The Alcatraz: Bob Barbas runs a prison where all those who opposed the "holy demonic order" are kept. The prisoners cannot talk, cannot commit suicide, cannot even think against Mundus, and have to listen to Bob's voice all day long.
  • Alternate Continuity: Capcom originally announced DmC Devil May Cry was a Continuity Reboot, then said it was a prequel, and then an Alternate Continuity... or something. At this point, Alternate Continuity looks like the safest bet.
  • Always Identical Twins: Dante and Vergil. It's just that they have different hair styles.
  • Always Save the Girl: Dante's promise to save Kat.
  • Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: A lot of areas in Limbo are full of blown-out, super bright colors and equally trippy designs. Lilith's nightclub deserves a mention, though - it's literally a demonic night club crammed with flashing neon lights and jittering sound waves with colors even more super-saturated than regular Limbo.
  • Another Side, Another Story: The Downloadable Content campaign Vergil's Downfall, which puts you in control of Dante's brother after the events of the main game.
  • Anti-Climax: A humorous moment where Kat warns you that you'll need to get through "five floors of hell" while ascending an office building. How do you do it? Walk into the elevator. The electronic display will then read a few random numbers, and then switch back-and-forth between the third and fourth floors above your starting position. All while elevator music is playing.
    Dante: ...She was right. This is hell.
  • Anti-Frustration Features:
    • Enemies will be less aggressive when out of sight, keeping you from getting blindsided too often. Still better keep your fingers on the dodge button, though.
    • Angel-element enemies never have shields, since every reliable method that can break shields is Demon-infused. This is changed in the Definitive Edition due to difficulty and gameplay rebalance. Angel-element shield enemies do exist, but shields are usually easier to break compared to Demon-element shield. Unless playing on a harder difficulty.
    • Just like the Proud Souls skill system in DMC4, you can refund any purchased upgrade if you want to re-assign the Skill point somewhere else.
    • There are achievements for getting SSS Ranks in missions or in an entire difficulty mode. Fortunately, the Difficulty Mode and Mission Select menus already display every completed mission's ranking as a vertical list, thus saving time from navigating menus whenever you want to check and replay missions that still have low ranks. It's an improvement over the first four DMC games where there are separate screens/menus for replaying missions and for viewing a list of your missions' rankings.
    • Secret Missions can be accessed directly from the Main Menu after you discover them from the Sealed Doors, allowing you to replay them at your own leisure without having to replay the actual level where they are found.
    • The Mission Select menu and the pause menu have HUD elements showing how much you've obtained from the total number of unlockables within the mission, such as Lost Souls, Cross Fragments, Keys and Sealed Doors. This helps in tracking down any Last Lousy Point.
  • Arc Words: "All war is fought with deception, and you have been deceived."
  • Armor-Piercing Question: The Order's primary goal is to take down Mundus and his forces, so when Phineas asks "And if you do kill Mundus... Who will take his place?" to Dante, the young devil hunter becomes silent and ponders for a while. It becomes the final plot twist of the game.
  • Artifact Title: In the classic continuity, Devil May Cry is the titular shop that the protagonist, Dante, operates his devil hunting business out of. This game, DmC, features no such establishment.
  • Art Shift:
    • While the game's overall look has a punkish, pop-art flavor, Dante's flashbacks are depicted in the style of Italian Baroque paintings with character-appropriate tweaks. Caravaggio, a 17th century artist, gets a lot of direct homage: seven-year-old Dante holding a demon's decapitated head is David with the Head of Goliath, Eva's death is posed similarly to The Death of the Virgin, and teenage Dante getting roughed up by police looks a lot like The Taking of Christ (except that Jesus wasn't trying to punch his captors' lights out). There's also the Pietà Plagiarism mentioned below.
    • Later, the story of the angelic/demonic war, Sparda and Eva's love, their sons, and Sparda's ultimate fate uses a series of graffiti murals, including a nod to Gustav Klimt.
    • Many of the cutscenes during the Vergil's Downfall DLC are portrayed as highly stylized, deeply shaded, lightly animated scenes. It gives it a rigid comic book style as a result.
  • Ascended Glitch: Jump Cancel (a technique that allows you to bounce off an enemy in order to repeat an action that can normally only be done once in a single jump) has always been an exploitable trick in the previous games, but it was technically "unofficial" (since Enemy Step is really meant as a tool to change your direction in the air when near an enemy) but Capcom has never removed it (back when it was originally known by fans as "Shotgun Hiking" in DMC1). DmC is the first game in the series to actually show off jump cancelling in official media. Particularly, one of the loading screens demonstrate a neat jump cancel with the Rebellion's Helm Breaker.
  • Audible Sharpness: The Angel Arms produce some kind of muted shouting effect when used.
  • Backtracking: You retrace your steps to Phineas after chasing the Harpy that stole his mechanical eye.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Ally Vergil and enemy Mundus are both sharply dressed.
  • Badass Family: Dante and Vergil, the sons of demon Sparda and angel Eva.
  • Bald of Evil: Both Mundus and Lilith, though the latter does cover herself with a wig.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Played with. The Witch, an actual humanoid character, has no nipples, but the mannequin-like Harpy enemies do (though the same color as the rest of their wooden bodies). Nudity is otherwise covered up by Scenery Censor or camera angles.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Kat is loyal to Vergil to the point of near-worship because he once saved her from abuse and gave her a purpose. That is until the revelation that he was using her and wants to rule over the humans, at which point she chooses Dante, who has by then also earned her loyalty and regards her as an equal.
  • Bedlam House: Dante is seen moving through a demonic asylum in the very first trailer.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: Using electronic surveillance, human spies and giant demon eyeballs.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Vergil takes Dante back to their old home to help Dante recover his lost memories of his childhood... and to get some new powers, namely turning his sword into a greataxe or scythe at will. Inverted as it's revealed in the Vergil's Downfall DLC that Vergil is the younger twin in this continuity.
  • Big Fancy House: The ruins of Dante and Vergil's childhood home.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Mundus is dead and humanity is now aware that demons exist... And then Vergil reveals that he plans to rule over the humans, leading Dante to come dangerously close to killing him in the final boss fight before Kat convinces Dante to spare him. Vergil runs off with his tail between his legs, and whatever hope the brothers had of reconciling is crushed into tiny little pieces in Vergil's Downfall, where he becomes the new Demon King.
  • Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: The utterly weird behaviour of Dante's gunfire can be waved off as a subset of his supernatural powers (as in the original continuity).
  • Bizarrchitecture: Limbo, being a demonic shadow of the real world, has some of this. Also, the city actively tries to kill you and otherwise impede your progress by squishing walls around you, tearing chunks of the floor away and revealing infinite space underneath, stretching rooms to many times their original length, demolishing environments until there's only floating chunks of debris left, and giving orders to the mooks.
  • Blocking Stops All Damage: Several enemies can put up a defensive stance with their shields (Dreamrunners and Drekavacs use their blades instead), negating any upcoming attacks. However, they can be easily broken down using Dante's demonic weapons or Vergil's Demon Mode attacks.
  • Bond One-Liner: Another skill added to Dante's repertoire. It's especially notable during the boss fight against Succubus, where he gives one for every stage of her boss fight.
  • Born of Heaven and Hell: Nephilim are beings who are born from the union of angels and demons with both Dante and Vergil being one. They can kill demons and are able to travel through Limbo.
  • Boss Banter: Many bosses will taunt you mid-battle, depending on how the fight goes. Unlike the previous games of the classic continuity, DmC is the first game in the franchise where the in-game boss banters are also displayed in the subtitles.
  • Bragging Rights Reward: Completing the "Must Die" difficulty unlocks a "Super" perk that grants unlimited Devil Trigger meter for your character.
  • Brains and Brawn: Vergil is both brilliant and educated, but it's Dante who goes out to smash the demons.
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Kat describes the contents of her regular-world-to-Limbo concoction, listing off typical witch-like ingredients and ending with squirrel semen. Dante eventually tells her he doesn't want to know the rest.
  • Breaking Old Trends: DmC no longer relies on the Metroidvania-esque level design that's present in the past games of the series. Save for the cutscene transitions, the stages are now seamless, unlike the past games where you had to go through or interact with doors and gates when moving to the next area. As a result, the map and mini-map features are no longer present. The next game released, Devil May Cry 5, followed what DmC did in this aspect, thus the metroidvania elements became a relic of the past.
  • Brick Joke: In the first mission, a white wig lands on Dante's head and he shrugs it off in annoyance. It made Dante look almost identical to the original incarnation of the character, but it turns out that Dante's hair temporarily becomes white when he unlocks his Devil Trigger; it's an indication of overwhelming power. By the end of the game, not only has Dante developed into a more heroic character, his control over his supernatural abilities has turned his hair completely and permanently white. The original Dante's iconic look is, in effect, a badge of honour that this Dante had to earn, and that he was originally not mature enough to appreciate any semblance of it back then.
  • Bright Is Not Good: The real world is very muted and somber, while the demon world is full of vivid, over-exposed colors.
  • Broken Masquerade: Near the end of the game, Limbo is merged with reality and demons are now visible to humankind.
  • Catch and Return: The blades thrown by the Witches can be hooked using Demon Pull and kicked back at them.
  • Cigarette Burns: The debut trailer depicted Dante putting his cigarette out on a demon's face while holding it in a headlock.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: The Succubus boss fight sees the f-bomb used pretty liberally. Heck, the preceding cutscene just devolves into Dante and the Succubus having a bomb exchange. "Fuck you!" "No, fuck you!" "FFFUCK YOUUUU!"
  • Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Usually, blue enemies or obstacles can only be attacked by Angel weapons, while red/orange ones can only be taken down by Demon weapons.
  • Colour-Coded Timestop: Almost everything in the environment pulses into a grayscale/black and white filter whenever Dante slows time using his Devil Trigger, but returns to their psychedelic Limbo colours after that. His coat also temporarily gains a glowing bloody red aura.
  • Companion Cube: Downplayed with the Ebony & Ivory during the first mission. Dante calls his handguns "girls" as he retrieves them, but he doesn't call them as such again for the rest of the game. It's also an inverted reference to the original Dante calling his handguns "guys" in DMC1.
    Dante: Ebony. Ivory. I missed you girls.
  • Competitive Balance:
    • In melee, the Demon weapons Arbiter and Eryx are both slow, heavy and used to dish out tons of damage, good for breaking blocks and defences but less useful against very mobile foes. The Angel weapons Osiris and Aquila are relatively weak, but their attacks cover a wide radius and hit faster - in the case of Aquila, much faster - making them well-suited to aerial combos. Rebellion is somewhere in the middle in terms of damage and close to Osiris in terms of speed.
    • With firearms, Dante's dual pistols Ebony and Ivory are quick-firing and accurate with large clips, but weak. The Shotgun is slower, with a short range, but it's more damaging and can take out multiple foes at once (making it good for crowds of weak enemies). The rocket launcher Kablooey is even slower, with a tiny clip and a lengthy reload, but causes very powerful explosions. It must also be used with care, since ill-considered fire can knock down and damage Dante himself.
  • Concept Art Gallery: The player can unlock pieces of concept artworks by accomplishing certain conditions such as completing missions on specific difficulties or killing a specified number of demons with a given weapon.
  • Conservation of Ninjutsu: If there are a bunch of enemies of the same type (e.g. the Stygians), they're going to be weak and easily dispatched despite their number. If there's only one or two of the same type (e.g. Dreamrunners or Rages), they're more likely to be Elite Mooks or a Boss in Mook Clothing, causing the fight to be tough as nails. Usually, the game will only spawn the few stronger types after all the many weaker types are dealt with.
  • Continuity Reboot: The game was originally announced as a complete restart for the series, with any new games following this continuity. Following fan backlash and lackluster reviews, this has been retconned into being an alternate continuity.
  • Contractual Boss Immunity: While the normal mooks will be left helpless in mid-air if you activate Dante's Devil Trigger, bosses do not.
  • Crapsack World: And it's under demonic control.
  • Cue the Falling Object: Dante jumps out of the Church stained glass at the end of Mission 3, and Kat merely stands still. A few seconds later, the entire front columns break down and she starts running.
  • Cutscene Power to the Max: The initial cutscenes of Mission 18 turn the abilities of the playable characters up to eleven - Dante's Devil Trigger completely freezes Mundus (but in the actual gameplay, all bosses are immune to this). Vergil then uses a Summoned Sword strong enough to stun Mundus (while they do very minimal amounts of damage in the DLC)
  • Cyber Space: Bob Barbas' lair inside Limbo. You fight a Hologram of his head in an abstract circular landscape with laser-based traps and attacks. Bob's voice has a compressed, digital effect to it.
  • Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Even though DmC retains some similar moves from the classic continuity, the absence of a hard lock-on function in the vanilla version means that it will take some time for series veterans to get used to the new controls. For example, Stinger requires you to tap the left stick in a direction twice instead of simply holding it towards the enemy you're locked on. The Definitive Edition eventually added the hard lock-on function, allowing players to emulate the classic DMC controls.
  • Dark World: The demon-infested Limbo, an alternate and very colorful version of Limbo City.
  • Darker and Edgier: The original continuity, while somewhat gothic, still had a substantial amount of optimism and upbeat tone (mostly thanks to Dante being such a laid-back badass). This universe is rife with conspiracy, secret wars, and a Dante who is considerably more angry at the world than his more carefree alternate universe counterpart. "Edgy" is definitely a theme throughout the DmC world.
  • Deadpan Snarker: If their particular flavour of snark can be considered deadpan, it would make it this: The Video Game.
    Kat: You'll need to ascend through five. Floors. Of hell. Be careful, Dante.
    Dante: (inside a glitchy elevator) She was right. This is hell.
  • Death by Origin Story: Dante and Vergil's mother Eva was killed by Mundus when they were 7.
  • Demon Lords And Arch Devils: Mundus and his allies.
  • Devil, but No God: Vergil mentions that the angels and devils have been at war for thousands of years. You'll saw your way through hordes of devils, but the only angel you'll meet or even hear specific mention of is your deceased mother, Eva.
  • Die, Chair, Die!: DmC incorporates the "destructible objects in the scenery" part to varying degrees, usually with the Demonic weapons and marked spots on the environment - Arbiter and Eryx can smash cracked walls, while Dante can deliberately use his Demon Pull ability to detach certain objects.
  • Difficult, but Awesome:
    • The game has a parry mechanic that involves clashing weapons with enemies. While the timing is strict, the results can be very worth it.
    • The Arbiter is the slowest melee weapon in the game, but it has a very high damage potential. The weapon's Trinity Smash combo is notable as its final hit has a long delay, yet the outcome is worth it if executed perfectly, especially in Devil Trigger state.
    • Demon Evade boosts the damage of your next attacks, but as a prerequisite, the dodge has to be timed well enough against the enemy's attack. It can also be combined with the aforementioned Trinity Smash combo, earning you lots of Style points/rank in a short time.
  • Don't Explain the Joke: After an instance of Limbo really messing with you by repeatedly lengthening a bottomless room of a church you're trying to escape from, which you escape using your grappling hook weapon... Dante says this line, but Kat just stares at him.
    Dante: Well, that just seemed to drag on forever! (Beat and grin) Church!
  • Downloadable Content: Vergil's Downfall, an epilogue chapter which makes Vergil the Player Character and takes him from a Fallen Hero feeling betrayed by his allies to a full-blown villain by abandoning his ideals and compassion for his former friends and family.
  • Dual Wielding: Aquila, which is two giant shuriken.
  • invokedDude, Not Funny!: When Dante is told that a mission might be rough, he replies with "I like it rough", to which Kat is unamused at his attempt at humor. Later revealed details of her backstory make this a bit of a dark Rewatch Bonus upon a second viewing.
  • Eldritch Location: Limbo City, which is actually full of demons and can transform and warp into completely new or distorted environments as it attempts to trap its victims into the Dark World.
  • Elite Mooks: Elite Stygians and Bathos are effectively just stronger versions of the Lesser Stygian and Pathos, respectively. Both have stronger attacks than their basic counterparts, and the Bathos usually has a shield, but the same tactics apply.
  • Empathic Environment: During the final boss fight against Vergil, the weather goes from clear yellow sunlight to a dark, intense lightning storm. It helps that the battle takes place just as the sun is setting.
  • Essence Drop: Slain enemies drop Red Orbs for currency, White Orbs accumulate skill points, and Purple Orbs refill Devil Trigger energy.
  • Everything Trying to Kill You: Limbo City is full of demons who all want Dante dead, and even the environment itself will warp and transform at times to try and kill him.
  • Eye Scream:
    • In the level "Under watch", you have to destroy living cameras made out of giant demonic eyes by pulling them out with your grappling hook.
    • During the first two phases of the boss battle against Bob Barbas, you end up grappling hook-jumping into his eyes to proceed to the next stage of the battle.
  • Evil Makes You Ugly: Big Bad Mundus and his allies all have scars, thinning hairlines and other physical deformities.
  • Fan Disservice:
    • You were expecting the much-hyped succubus to be some kind of tantalizing beauty? No. It's not.
    • Mundus' mistress Lilith, as well, especially once she ditches her wig. Oh, and it gets worse; you fight her as a boss while she uses her unborn child as a golem/shield, while the background music screams "Hey! You! What the fuck is wrong with you!?"
  • Female Angel, Male Demon: Dante and Vergil's mother was an angel and their father was a demon.
  • Fetus Terrible: Played with by The Spawn of Mundus. It may be a hideous demonic abomination that Lilith is able to bring out of her body so it can fight while carrying her rather than vice versa, and it quite eagerly tries to kill Dante, but there is no reason to believe that it is consciously evil; rather that it's an oversized infant with demonic powers that only understands attacking Dante is "play time."
  • Flipping the Bird: Dante gives the middle finger to demon news pundit Bob Barbas before their fight.
    Dante: Hey Bob! Put a spin on this.
  • Force and Finesse: Dante wields his two-handed sword pretty haphazardly, but his superhuman strength and speed carry him through battles. Vergil carries a katana and has a refined, graceful combat style.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • In Mission 3, Vergil details the entire history of Sparda, who turned on Mundus rather than let humanity be enslaved. The betrayal he described plays out once more in the ending, but with Vergil in the place of Mundus and Dante in the place of Sparda. Bonus points for this version of Sparda being Mundus' blood-brother, at least according to Vergil's understanding.
    • In Mission 9, Dante says he's only fighting for this cause to kill Mundus, outcome be damned. Phineas answers him with a question: "And if you do kill Mundus... Who will take his place?" That question is answered in the finale and by then Dante's a little more vested in the implications.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Dante is an alcoholic, extremely foul-mouthed, prone to violence, a wanted criminal and has a boisterous, goofy demeanour. Vergil is well-read, shows no signs of vice, conceals his activities and existence from the authorities, and has a much more understated personality.
  • Freudian Trio: Dante (Id), Vergil (Superego), and Kat (Ego).
    • Dante is the hot-headed Id, motivated mostly by strong, basic emotions such as anger and lust, and often doesn't think his actions through. That said, he is compassionate at heart; it's just been scabbed over with aggression.
    • Vergil as the cool, analytical Super-Ego, a planner driven by ambitious end goals he is willing to make fairly cold-hearted sacrifices to achieve. He thinks in the long-term and values control.
    • Kat is the human, mediating Ego, emotional but loyal to Vergil's higher ideals. She not only is between the brothers in temperament but acts as their go-between, and she tempers Dante's seething distrust and rage into a more sympathetic sense of righteousness. Unfortunately, she is revealed to have little influence on Vergil, which leads to the trio's split when he dismisses her as a mere human in announcing his plan to rule over them.
  • Game-Breaking Bug: While the PC port of the game is known to have numerous bugs that would render the rest of the level unplayable, most (if not all) of these were actually fixed in the Definitive Edition of the game. An example happens if you try to reload a checkpoint or die in Mission 4, the "Church" cutscene will freeze, preventing the player from completing the mission. Players were otherwise advised to try completing the said mission without going back to the main menu in order to avoid this bug.
  • Game Mod: DmC has an active modding scene which is mainly focused on cosmetic stuff, though more gameplay-focused modders emerged over the years.
  • Generation Xerox: Two beings with a bond of absolute trust and loyalty stand at the precipice of conquering the human world. One, driven by affection for a woman, turns on his blood brother and defends the humans from his ambitions. Feeling betrayed, the defeated retreats to the demon world, swearing revenge. Now, are we speaking of Sparda and Mundus, or Dante and Vergil?
  • "Get Back Here!" Boss: Inverted by Poison and Mundus; you're expected to move between platforms during the fight, causing them to chase you. Succubus will retaliate by destroying said secondary platforms.
  • The Goomba: The Stygians, the basic soldiers of the enemy in Limbo City. The Lesser Stygians are actually more common in the easier difficulties, but they are that pathetic in contrast to the regular variety that can block bullets at best.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: Even in a game like this, the aftereffect of Vergil shooting Lilith's womb is kept out of frame.
  • Guide Dang It!:
    • The Updated Re-release replaced the elemental immunity of Angel/Demon-infused enemies with taking less damage and not flinch from attacks they resist... and completely removed the relevant tutorial slide. Considering Takes One to Kill One is the opposite of what one might expect, this can be a hard lesson to figure out for yourself.
    • In the vanilla version and DE version, Dante gains speed and moves faster at higher style ratings starting at A. The game never drops any hints of this at all in the tutorial or screen hints while loading. Most players won't realize this on their first run through the game.
  • Half-Breed Discrimination: All the demons at least want half-breeds like Dante and Vergil dead. In fact, they mostly are. The twin brothers are the only two living Nephilim in existence; all the others were wiped out centuries ago.
  • Harder Than Hard:
    • Borrowed from the mainline games, there's Son of Sparda, Dante Must Die, and the now traditional duo Heaven or Hell - Hell & Hell difficulty levels.
    • The Definitive Edition adds another new difficulty called "Gods Must Die" that goes one step beyond Dante Must Die: enemies will spawn in their Devil Triggered states, you cannot use any items, and no Green Orbs will be spawned (so any health you lose is gone for the entire level).
  • Hard Levels, Easy Bosses: It's considered this. The general levels can be long and full of platforming sequences or plenty of Elite Mooks at worst. On the other hand, the boss fights can be abused by Devil Trigger and Arbiter.
  • Hellfire: In the Chronicles of Vergil comic spin-off, Hellfire is described as a place or dimension where Dante was imprisoned one year before the events of the game.
  • Helpful Mook: The series' Goomba Springboard mechanic lets you use the Mooks as makeshift platforms. Oftentimes, this can be used for Sequence Breaking with the Demon Pull ability.
  • Hit Stop:
    • The camera dramatically zooms in on the last attack that kills the last enemy of a wave; the action is briefly set in slow-mo to emphasize this.
    • With proper timing, the Kicker and Uppercut follow-ups of the respective Demon Pull and Angel Pull abilities can have a slow-motion effect if the button is pressed at the right moment when the enemy is close to Dante. Kicker is notable for this, as it even has a unique animation where the camera zooms in on Dante as he performs a roundhouse kick instead of the usual front kick animation.
  • Hostage for MacGuffin: In a nice twist, it's the heroes who arrange the trade, demanding Kat in exchange for Lilith and Mundus' unborn child (admittedly after Mundus captured Kat and demanded Dante in exchange; the twins just decided to alter the terms). Too bad Vergil has to go and kill their hostages before the exchange is complete.
  • Hotter and Sexier: The opening all but shows Dante having a threesome with two of the dancers of a strip club. That scene aside, however, the only explicit sexuality is between Lilith and Mundus.
  • Hybrid Power: Being Nephilim, Dante and Vergil's mixed heritage makes them the only ones strong enough to slay Mundus, according to Vergil. And indeed they succeed in their mission. In a minor example, it also makes them immune to Virility's mind controlling properties.
  • I Ate WHAT?!: The soft drink known as Virility is made from the acidic vomit of a giant, deformed succubus monster.
  • I Call It "Vera": Dante's guns Ebony and Ivory. He also calls them "girls" and occasionally greets or praises them fondly. To tease the point, the strippers Dante brought home and who'd disappeared before he woke had a similar theme going - and Dante reclaims his guns near women's underwear which evidently landed there at the same time.
  • Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: This version of Dante has dark brown hair in contrast to his white hair in the original continuity. However, his first use of the Devil Trigger turns a small part of it white. Then at the end, all of his hair turns white because of the power's usage.
  • Idiosyncratic Combo Levels: This game's Stylish Ranks are: "Dirty!", "Cruel!", "Brutal!", "Anarchic!", "Savage!", "SSadistic!!", and "SSSensational!!!".
  • Idle Animation: Dante would turn his head from side to side.
  • Image Song: For the game's Japanese promotional video, One Ok Rock did a collaboration song titled "Nothing Helps".
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Final Boss is on the receiving end. Dante decisively wins the fight by running his Rebellion through Vergil's chest and pinning him to the ground, then pushing the sword even further. Vergil is resilient enough to survive, but mostly because of Kat's request for Dante to stop, which the latter follows out of mercy.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon: DmC reworks Dante's Rebellion sword into a weapon with multiple forms. Its default form is still a sword, but it can turn into a set of shurikens and a scythe (representing his angelic side), a pair of fists and a heavy axe (representing his demonic side), and a Grappling-Hook Pistol (which can be used in both Angel and Demon modes, albeit with differing functions). The game's combat system even allows you to weave Rebellion's attacks seamlessly in tandem with these other weapon forms.
  • I'm Standing Right Here: Vergil almost completely ignores Kat when talking to Dante about how they, the Nephilim, should be ruling over the human race now the demons are gone because humans are weak, only paying her any attention when Dante makes him. It's really not played for laughs.
  • Invisible to Normals: Limbo. Those of inhuman origins can get dragged in, and Mediums can see it (albeit somewhat blearily), but to everyone else in the world, stuff that happens in Limbo might as well not happen. Except when it involves Ferris wheels or newscasters.
  • Interface Spoiler: The Definitive Edition includes a DLC named Vergil's Downfall, which you will see before starting the main game, and the trophy for beating said DLC is called "Our souls are at odds brother". Guess who ends up an enemy at the end.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Vergil, after being defeated by Dante, goes from only briefly hesitating before running to help his vision of Kat, though he sees her as weak, to spitefully and remorselessly bragging about killing "Dante" to his vision of their mother.
  • "Just Frame" Bonus:
    • The most common example in the franchise has the player delay one attack somewhere in the basic combo, which completely changes the rest of the combo. DmC helps players time the delay by having Dante's sword shine at the point when the next attack should be executed.
    • The Demon Evade mechanic encourages perfectly-timed evasions as doing so will boost Dante's next attacks.
  • Kill Streak: Per series tradition, the Stylish Rank system rewards you more Stylish Points for killing multiple enemies without taking any damage at all in between your kills. However, the need for kill streaks is encouraged, acknowledged, or enforced in other scenarios. For example, being the only game in the series which displays in-game feats in real-time, DmC actively points out any kill streaks you've made by showing the phrases "Double Kill!", "Triple Kill!", or "Flawless Kill Streak!" on-screen.
  • La Résistance: The Order, a resistance group fighting Mundus and his demonic forces. Vergil is their leader, while Kat is a very important member due to her powers. The game's plot revolves around Dante being recruited to aid the Order's goals.
  • Later-Installment Weirdness: DMC4 and this game are the only games in the series that do not use Red Orbs as currency for move upgrades (4 uses a separate currency called "Proud Souls" while this game uses a stat point system). 5 goes back on the older design decision and resumes using Red Orbs as the only type of currency needed to buy both items and move upgrades.
  • Loading Screen: Dante performs various combos on a hapless mook, along with some gameplay tips. This can drag on for a bit too long sometimes.
  • Masquerade: Demons secretly control the human world.
  • Malevolent Architecture: The Dark World of Limbo is alive, which at times will actively try to block your path or kill you by changing the terrain around you, verbally threaten you, occasionally exclaim "NO" if you make unexpected amounts of progress, and outright taunt and insult you by writing "FUCK YOU DANTE" on the floors, ceilings or walls.
  • Marathon Level: This game's iteration of the Bloody Palace mode is mostly similar to that of DMC4 in terms of their mechanics. There are 101 levels, but you fight through one level at a time, and with an extendable timer.
  • Masked Villains, Unmasked Heroes: Vergil wears a mask in videos from the Order encouraging people to rise up against the demons enslaving them. While he at first seems to be more heroic than his original counterpart, the game's climax reveals him to have his own tyrannical ambitions. And like in the original continuity, Dante doesn't wear a mask.
  • Maybe Ever After: Dante and Kat, in keeping with the first three games' pattern of introducing a new possible love interest but not definitively hooking them up.
  • Metaphorically True: Bob Barbas' Catchphrase of "just doin' God's work" technically is true, in that he's working for Mundus.
  • Mirror World: Most areas you move through in the "normal" Limbo City will transform into warped areas of the same environments in the "demonic" Limbo. At least once, the environment itself will be flipped 180 degrees, memorably in the approach to Bob Barbas' lair; the symbolism used for the transition depicts Dante moving to the other world through the mirror image reflected by the huge body of water.
  • Money for Nothing: Red Orbs, obtained from killing enemies and destroying environmental objects, only purchase items, which are of variable importance depending on one's skill, while there's a "stat point" currency system used purchase new skills. This had the effect of making Red Orbs fairly unimportant since a good player wouldn't need to purchase recovery items to stay alive.
  • Mook Chivalry: An A.I. mechanic carried over from 4, the mooks become less aggressive and won't attack you if they're offscreen. Despite this, they will still attempt to approach you but would only resume attacking if they're on-screen again.
  • Mook Debut Cutscene: Keeping the tradition of the classic series, every single enemy has a special introductory cutscene (although the scenes are shorter and more plain). DmC introduced the trend of showing the names after a dramatic pause.
  • Mooks: The Stygian is a basic ground-based enemy that you will fight more than any other monster. They have no special gimmicks, and are frequently found in large groups or supporting more elite demons.
  • Multi-Melee Master: You have to handle more weapon configurations simultaneously in this game than any other Devil May Cry game. Dante's default weapon is the Rebellion sword but being a Morph Weapon, it can change on the fly into a scythe or a pair of throwable tri-blade discs as an Angelic weapon or a large axe and a pair of gauntlets as a Demonic weapon.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: In the opening, Dante gets dressed in epic fashion while under attack by a 15-foot tall demon, using a series of acrobatics and slow-motion in the process.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • DmC Dante calling his Ebony & Ivory handguns as "girls" in the first mission serves as an inverted reference to the classic Dante calling his Ebony & Ivory handguns as "guys" in the prologue of the first Devil May Cry game.
    • Using Devil Trigger temporarily turns Dante's hair white and his coat blood red.
    • All of the Achievement/Trophy names are quotes from the original series, most of them from Dante, but a few from other characters as well.
    • In one of the first small scenes, an explosion causes a long haired white wig to land on Dante's head, making him look like the previous design of the character (which was used in all previous instalments of the franchise). After a pause to examine his reflection, he says "not in a million years" and shrugs the hairpiece off. At the end of the last cutscene, his hair has turned totally white and grown long enough to have bangs covering his eyes like the original incarnation, though he still retains his shaven punkish style.
    • A less emphasized one is regarding Eva. As noted above under the Adaptation Dye-Job entry, the Eva of this continuity has a different hair color than her classic counterpart, but the original series Eva was shown (via a portrait on Dante's desk) to frequently wear a red coat. Thus, the Eva of this game retains the red color motif of her classic counterpart, by way of her blood red hair.
    • In the first game of the main continuity, Dante can equip an item called the Bangle of Time which changes his Devil Trigger to an ability that stops time. In DmC, Dante's Devil Trigger doesn't stop time per se, but massively slows it down to a crawl that enemies become frozen in mid-air.
    • The classic Dante's "Flock off, feather-face!" pun in DMC1 is subtly repeated here when DmC Dante first meets the Harpies.
      Dante: An ambush... you flocking bastards!
    • By the end of the Vergil's Downfall DLC campaign, Vergil's hair will be spiky and slicked back, evoking the iconic hairstyle of his classic counterpart. He will also have Glowing Eyes of Doom and blue Tainted Veins on his face, an allusion to the classic Vergil's first appearance as Nelo Angelo.
    • The "Classic Dante" DLC costume evokes the appearance of the original continuity's Dante from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. The Definitive Edition also features a "DMC1 Dante" costume referencing the original's outfit from the first game, and a "Classic Vergil" costume referencing the original Vergil's appearance from DMC3.
  • Naked First Impression: Kat first meets Dante when she knocks on his trailer door and he opens it without bothering to put anything on. He then proceeds to hold a brief conversation with her, still naked. It's also, apart from the preceding montage of him having a threesome, how he is introduced to the audience.
  • Nemesis Weapon: Just like the original continuity, Dante's sword Rebellion and Vergil's katana Yamato were both handed down by their father, Sparda. While the two are allies for the majority of the game, they became enemies in the finale.
  • Nephilim: Dante and Vergil, twin sons of an angel and a demon.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The reason why some concepts from the 2010 Tokyo Game Show trailer of the game were cut from the finished version, is because Capcom had to step in and address the negative fan backlash. From the said trailer, Dante's appearance is more rugged, he had a smoking habit, and one scene has him bound and being interrogated. In the game's released version on 2013, Dante appears to be much younger, no longer has scars, and drops the smoking. The "interrogation scene" was also totally scrapped.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: At the end of the hostage exchange sequence, Mundus uses his powers to cause a massive chaotic dimensional shift in an attempt to kill the heroes. While Vergil and Kat attempt to escape by car, an earthquake causes them to be thrown into peril. Luckily, Dante gains the power to spontaneously shift to-and-fro between dimensions while those in the car suffer from time dilation, allowing him to leap about and rescue them. Tragically, he loses this ability without comment when the scene ends.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: The "Raptor News Network" and Bob Barbas, parodies of Fox News Channel and Bill O'Reilly.
  • Nonhuman Humanoid Hybrid: Dante and Vergil have been re-imagined as half-demon and half-angel Nephilim.
  • No-Sell: In the original release, Angel- or Demon-infused enemies outright ignored weapons and abilities of the opposite alignment. Combined with taking less damage from Rebellion and gunfire, they were a royal pain to take down. The Updated Re-release changes these enemies to simply have the same damage reduction to the opposite alignment, and not flinching from such attacks unless they've been staggered or knocked up by their weak element first.
  • Notice This: Aside from the recurring series-wide examples such as collectibles glowing and the camera focusing on the next destination, this game also features several visual cues that help you in combat and exploration. Generally, entering Angel or Demon mode makes conspicuous objects glow with their respective color if they can be interacted with using the appropriate weapons. Some enemies will also have glowing body parts to indicate that they've been staggered, if their weaknesses have been exposed, or if they are vulnerable and can be pulled over.
  • Not Quite Dead: Much like the old continuity, some bosses don't stay dead once you've defeated them. In the case of the Succubus, however, her second fight is more of a platforming sequence with some nice atmosphere and one-liners.
  • Ominous Multiple Screens: Mundus has a room of these, which are live footage of his demonic surveillance cameras.
  • Opposites Attract: The Angelic Eva and Demonic Sparda were married before Mundus killed Eva and subjected Sparda to a Fate Worse than Death.
  • Orphanage of Fear: Dante was raised in various demon-run orphanages and institutions.
  • Our Demons Are Different:
    • Demons can disguise themselves as humans and blend into society.
    • The most glaring example is Poison the Succubus. In other media, succubi are usually portrayed as very attractive, bat-winged women, while this Succubus of DmC is a vulgar, disgusting and multi-armed caterpillar. The mythological resemblance is only "partially" accurate, since in the original myths and medieval demonology texts, succubi were hideous beings that used Glamour to appear as beautiful women and seduce men in their sleep.
  • Our Souls Are Different: The Lost Souls are human souls who are trapped in Limbo. They are found stuck on walls and wail in agony when Dante gets close. "Collecting" or attacking them releases Red Orbs.
  • Pietà Plagiarism: The flashback of Eva's death has a shot where Dante cradles his mother's corpse. It also counts as an inversion, seeing as a Pièta usually involves the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus (i.e. mother cradling son).
  • Polar Opposite Twins: Dante and Vergil. Dante is more hot-headed and is associated with red, Vergil wears blue and is more calculating.
  • Pop-Star Composer: DmC has a soundtrack by Combichrist and an original score by Noisia.
  • Post-Modern Magik: On one side, Demons are trying to take over the world via banking, news pundits, CCTV, club scenes and soft drinks, and on the other, the human resistance has a witch who carries her Eye of Newt in spray cans and magic symbols printed onto stencils, and on two different occasions, powerful magic spells are linked to computer servers.
  • Power-Up Magnet: Orbs dropped by enemies automatically fly towards the playable character, unlike the previous games where they drop to the floor by default if they're out-of-range. This feature is present by default, unlike in Devil May Cry 4 where the "Get More Orbs" skill must be purchased first to achieve a similar result.
  • Precision F-Strike: In the trailers. Also Vergil's approach to swearing, compared to Dante's enthusiasm.
  • Pregnant Hostage: In an unusual twist, it's the heroes who take Lilith hostage specifically because she's pregnant with Mundus's Enfant Terrible so they can trade her for Kat. They don't bother being nice about it either, since both she and the Fetus Terrible are clearly monsters, but Dante's mildly uncomfortable with it whereas Vergil kills them both in the middle of the hostage exchange to provoke Mundus.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Dante all over the place.
    Dante: (to Poison, clinging for her life to a stone pillar) You know what your problem is? You're... too... clingy!
  • Prequel: The game gets its own prequel in the form of a hardcover trade, named DmC: Devil May Cry: The Vergil Chronicles.
  • Propaganda Machine: Hosted by Bob Barbas, the demons run "Raptor News Network" that slanders Dante and the Order.
  • Properly Paranoid: The Order isn't insane at all, demons actually do run the world.
  • The Prophecy: According to legend, the nephilim (a hybrid of angel and demon) are the only beings that can slay a demon king like Mundus.
  • Punched Across the Room: This is a core mechanic of the Eryx; every charged punch is guaranteed to send lesser demons flying away.
  • Real Is Brown: The real world is drab and full of muted colors. By contrast, the demon world is disturbingly colorful.
  • Real-Time Weapon Change: DMC1 allowed switch between two weapons, DMC3 between four weapons, DMC4 between seven. DmC between eight. To elaborate, on one hand you use the triggers to switch stances, on the other hand you use the D-Pad to change the Angel weapon (left), the Demon weapon (right) and the fire-arm (up), Rebellion being the default melee weapon when you're not holding a trigger. This game's system also has the benefit of very smoothly mapping to keyboard plus mouse control for PC gamers.
  • Recurring Boss: Drekavac. They appear during several levels and escape when you deal damage to it. They never appear with other types of enemies and are particularly tough to deal with.
  • Recycled Title: This Alternate Continuity "reboot" developed by Ninja Theory is titled DmC: Devil May Cry, with its subtitle being the name of its parent franchise. Taking the acronym into consideration, it can be interpreted as "Devil may Cry: Devil May Cry". According to behind-the-scenes sources such as page 222 of the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook, the redundant and recycled subtitle was added as a workaround because the game was originally meant to be titled as just DmC, yet it's not possible to trademark a three-letter title.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Dante's color is red, Vergil's is blue. Dante is impulsive, brash and emotional, while Vergil is a cool-headed, cautious thinker.
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Except by the in-universe press.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Virility mascot is a cutesy-looking slug with four anime eyes. Becomes amusing when the Succubus it represents shows up.
  • Rival Final Boss: The finale has Dante and Vergil duking it out after taking down the Big Bad, fighting over whether to rule over humanity or not.
  • Ruder and Cruder: Profanity in the series might have started slightly because of Devil May Cry 4, but it gets taken to an extreme here in DmC, where practically every character is a complete Sir Swears-a-Lot, with the infamous example occurring during the encounter with the Succubus when she and Dante exchange F-bombs. There's also the cutscene at the beginning, following Dante hooking up with a pair of strippers, where he stands in full view from his doorway completely naked while talking to Kat as people pass by on the street.
  • Rule of Symbolism: When in Limbo, most of the real world is hard to see through all of the fog and twisted landscape. What's left that's easy to see? Gambling machines and carnival rides. Apparently your addictions really will follow you into hell. Similarly, every major plot cutscene get visual symbolism all over the place - look at what's behind Dante when he wakes up in the opening level, or where Vergil and Dante are located when in front of a painting depicting half demons and half angels.
  • Sarcasm Failure: There is no opponent in the face of whom Dante will not pun...except when he's fighting Lilith's spawn, when he abandons his typical Trash Talk in favour of sounding alarmed and disturbed.
  • Scenery Censor: Dante is naked for much of the very first scene. As his trailer gets attacked, he puts on his clothes while flying through the air, with conveniently placed objects covering his crotch.
  • Scenery Porn: Features among other locations Ominous Floating Castles in the sky, Amazing Technicolor Battlefields and demonic cityscapes that rip and tear themselves apart.
  • Shield-Bearing Mook: The game has shielded Bathos/Pathos and Death Knight enemies that are dealt with using specific attacks that can break through their defenses, mostly via heavier attacks and Demon-aligned weapons.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Billboards and signs will transform into messages saying things like "consume, submit, obey" when the world shifts into Limbo, in a nod to the cult sci-fi film They Live!.
    • The Order and its leader the Masked Man borrow heavily in terms of both appearance and methodology from V and his allies of the Alan Moore comic book series V for Vendetta.
    • There are several references to Italian Baroque paintings. A scene from Dante's flashback is depicted in the style of Caravaggio's David with the Head of Goliath, Eva's death is posed similarly to The Death of the Virgin, and teenage Dante getting roughed up by police looks a lot like The Taking of Christ (except that Jesus wasn't trying to punch his captors' lights out).
    • The visual effects in the Bob Barbas Boss Battle were specifically based on scenes from the cult Cyberspace films TRON and The Lawnmower Man.
    • The soft drink Virility and the giant slug-like succubus monster that produces it in an underground factory are inspired by Slurm and the Slurm Queen from Futurama.
    • In Mission 13, Lilith starts off "The Devil has Talent", a reality game show sequence based on America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent. However, she requires Dante to survive a series of challenges in order to proceed further.
    • During his journey through a demon prison, Dante helps a blind old man who is being tormented by harpies.
    • One of the first things Dante says when he learns the Ophion Demon Pull is "Get over here!"
    • Dante's "Neo Dante" outfit is based in both The Prince Of Persia and the film version of The Crow, if, somewhat more modern/cyberpunk looking.
    • A very unintentional one to Bleach in the Vergil's Downfall DLC. Hollow Vergil, like Hollow Ichigo, tries to convince the real Vergil to discard his heart, and also appears only after Vergil was gravely injured. The whole of Vergil's Downfall was actually meant to be an homage to The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot.
  • Second Hour Superpower: DmC is more straightforward with its gameplay mechanic progression than the classic Devil May Cry games. At first, Dante only has his BFS and two handguns, then Mission 2 unlocks the ability to transform his Rebellion into Angel/Demon forms (as a way to teach you the Stance System and Real-Time Weapon Change mechanics), then Mission 3 gives him the ability to Angel Dash (the platforming becomes more varied by this point).
  • Sequel Hook: Several are set up at the end.
    • The WE HAVE AWOKEN message being displayed on-screen; Limbo is merged with the human world, so the public now knows demons and humans co-exist, laying bare all demonic manipulations. The world is forever changed and chaos almost certainly lies ahead.
    • Vergil leaves after the battle to places unknown (and does so again after the Vergil's Downfall campaign).
    • Dante has now sworn to protect humans and developed his powers further, as indicated by his hair becoming totally white in the final cutscene just like how it does when he's in Devil Trigger, but he has not yet reached his full potential, whatever that may be.
  • Sequence Breaking:
    • The premise of Mission 3 requires Dante to obtain the Angel Dash ability to cross the chasm which separates him from Kat and the only exit of that level. But once you have already unlocked that ability from your previous playthroughs, you can simply Angel Dash your way towards the exit after the first battle, allowing you to end the level in a span of a few minutes.
    • The level design often incorporates enemy encounters in freely-open areas that also involve some platforming. You're expected to deal with all enemies first before you can properly traverse the environment to reach your objective. However, speedrunners exploit the Ophion Demon Pull and Enemy Step abilities to turn the enemies into makeshift floating platforms, allowing them to reach the objective before the enemy encounters could even end.
  • Sexual Karma: Though he isn't shown doing it, there's a clear contrast between how the heroic Dante is a hit with the dancers at the night club and states to get laid a lot and how the villainous Mundus' sex scene with Lilith is not arousing at well, as well as unfulfilling to him.
  • Ship Tease: Kat and Dante. Although the close friendship that develops between them never becomes explicitly romantic, they share several moments that can be perceived as romantic (and are by some fans). It would, however, be in poor taste to give Kat a romantic arc with a guy she's just met, in light of the revelation that she was abused. The Definitive Edition of the game's ending though does give them a more explicitly romantic final scene (or at least a more Ship Tease-heavy) where the two walk off in each other's arms, with Dante moving to squeeze her butt and her playfully giggling while punching him in the dick; though not completely out of the realm of something close friends would do, its very much more akin to something a couple would do.
  • Sibling Team: Dante joins forces with Vergil to take down the demon king Mundus. Mission 19 has them fighting Mundus together.
  • Simplified Spellcasting: To cast a spell to affect Limbo, you can spend hours mixing ingredients, researching, combining and painting the symbols to get them just right...or you can prepare the ingredients in an aerosol can and spray it through a stencil.
  • Smoking Is Cool: The impression the first trailer gives off, though Word of God says Dante's kicked the habit.
  • Smoking Is Edgy: This game was a Darker and Edgier reboot of the game Devil May Cry, so the new version of Dante was made more angry, crass, and cynical than he originally was. The Tokyo Game Show trailer showed him smoking but this was removed from the game due to backlash.
  • Spell My Name With An S: The exact title of the game is DmC Devil May Cry, with a lower case m and no colon.
  • Spiteful Spit: Dante gives one to a plummeting Mundus after being saved by Vergil. The camera even tracks the spit until it lands on the demon king's face.
  • Stance System: Aside from the standard attacks and combos, the combat revolves around switching between "Angel Mode" and "Demon Mode" by holding their respective keys or triggers. Each mode has its own associated moves and weapons, but Angel mode focuses on fast crowd-hitting attacks, while Demon Mode focuses on slow heavy-damage attacks. The stance system also affects how the player handles the platforming segments by grappling on specific environmental objects. This is more straightforward when playing as Vergil; even though he only has the Yamato, Sword Illusions, and the Doppelganger Devil Trigger in his arsenal, their properties vary depending on the active stance.
  • Strawman News Media: All of the Raptor News Network functions as this. Apart from being an unsubtle satire of Fox News, it functions as a Propaganda Machine that slanders Dante and The Order.
  • Subliminal Seduction: Billboards and signs will transform into messages saying things like "consume, submit, obey" when the world shifts into Limbo.
  • Super Mode:
    • Devil Trigger makes Dante stronger just like in the classic games, but it also allows him to suspend enemies in the air. In contrast, Vergil can summon a doppelganger that mimics his moves. The "Super" Perks for Dante and Vergil also grant unlimited Devil Trigger just like the Super Costumes of the classic games, though in DmC, they can be mixed with the various cosmetic outfits.
    • Elite Mooks get their own version on lower difficulties, called Enrage. They turn gold, are Immune to Flinching and can unleash deadly unblockable attacks.
    • As per series tradition, the enemies and bosses can also have their own Devil Trigger state in the Dante Must Die and Vergil Must Die difficulty modes. This is taken up to eleven in the Gods Must Die difficulty mode where enemies spawn in Devil Trigger state.
  • Suspicious Videogame Generosity: Ever wondered why Vergil's Doppelganger gives plenty of Purple Orbs when hit? Your Devil Trigger gauge will just easily fill up, right? Well, it is actually your key to the game's Puzzle Boss against Vergil, who can only be defeated if Dante lands the final blow while in Devil Trigger state.
  • Sword Sparks: A slow-motion variant happens when Dante and Vergil lock swords near the finale.
  • Take That, Audience!:
    • The game features a few jabs at the original series' disgruntled fanbase.
      Dante: (looking at a long haired wig reminiscent of classic Dante's hairstyle on his head) Not in a million years.
    • The boss fight against a mother and her unborn...ish child. The background music constantly repeats the line, "Hey! You! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Though it's ambiguous just who is in the wrong here.
  • Tennis Boss:
    • Dante can parry Mundus' meteors and Vergil's Summoned Swords. Just time your attack (which works in both versions of the game), or make sure that Prop/Shredder's attack frames are active (which unfortunately no longer works in the Definitive Edition).
    • In an inverted case, the player can throw their Arbiter's axe head at enemies, and some late-game enemies or Boss in Mook Clothing will hit it back if their defenses are up. If the player manages to time it right, they can then stun the enemy by hitting it back, turning this into one of the shortest applications of this trope.
  • Time Stands Still: Devil Trigger mode, which freezes time while active. It doesn't work on bosses, though.
  • Trailers Always Spoil:
    • The first Vergil character trailer gives away that the leader of the Order is Dante's long lost brother.
    • The trailer for the DLC expansion Vergil's Downfall gives away that Vergil left Kat and his brother for parts unknown at the end of the game.
  • Training Dummy: The Stygian in the training room.
  • Training Stage: The game has a featureless white void where players can practice their combos on a mook at their leisure.
  • Transformation Is a Free Action: Dante's Devil Trigger slows down time and sends any Mook or Elite Mook floating in the air while it's active, making it impossible for them to interrupt him in the first place.
  • Trapped in Another World: The plot of the Vergil DLC episode.
  • Trash Talk: A technique Dante uses as liberally as his sword and firearms. Boss characters often respond, making their battles as verbal as they are physical.
  • Unskilled, but Strong:
    • This Dante, compared to classic Dante.
    • Mundus's son as well, to a greater degree.
  • Urban Fantasy: The most heavily involved of the franchise, giving things like news networks and carbonated beverages a demonic underpinning.
  • Urban Ruins: Limbo City is this in general due to its generally crumbing appearance, but it's even more so in its alternate dimension mode, which has demons running around everywhere.
  • Updated Re-release: The game was re-released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as Definitive Edition, with visual improvements comparable to the PC version, adds host of new modes and gameplay tweaks, and comes bundled with all DLCs.
  • Villain World: The world is ruled by demons who uphold The Masquerade.
  • Volleying Insults: Dante meeting the Succubus in the Virility Factory. It eventually degenerates into Cluster F Bombs.
  • Wham Line: "The path is clear for us to rule."
  • Wham Episode: Mission 16, a very short mission kicking off with the trade between Dante and Vergil exchanging Lilith and her spawn with Kat (who was held hostage by Mundus). It is a quiet scene where the two women are slowly walking forward towards their allies. Then we get a first-person perspective from Vergil's scope, the camera shifts to Dante's point of view, and gunshot is heard, sending everyone in panic. Thanks Vergil!
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: This question is the primary difference in motivation between Dante and Vergil.
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • Dante chews Vergil out for shooting Lilith and her fetus in the middle of exchanging her for Kat, while Kat's still in the crossfire and again when he announces his plan for them to rule over the weak, subservient human race, right in front of Kat.
    • Mundus also calls Dante out for the above incident, never mind that he killed Sparda's wife and has been trying to kill his children ever since. Dante, despite having plenty of ground to claim innocence or point out Mundus's hypocrisy, instead taunts him about it - though his specific motivation was to make Mundus angry, not defeat him verbally.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer…: When all you have for platforming is a medium-range grappling hook and a double-jump, if you're stuck, there's a good chance that you just need to look up.
  • Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Despite being a modern-tech urban city, the Limbo City of DmC is completely fictional even though there are certain aspects of the game that try to connect with real-life nations and geography, such as the British Union flag sewn on the left arm of Dante's coat.
  • Whole-Plot Reference: The Virility softdrink factory and Poison the Succubus's role in the plot have drawn a lot of similarities with the Futurama episode "Fry and the Slurm Factory".
  • Would Hit a Girl:
    • The SWAT team that storms The Order's base shoot Kat in the shoulder as soon as they enter the server room, even though she has her arms raised in surrender and no way to defend herself.
    • Vergil has no issue gunning down a defenseless Lilith and her demon child.
  • Yin-Yang Bomb: Dante and Vergil are Nephilim, who are hybrids of and thus have the power belonging to both demons and angels.
  • You Remind Me of X: Phineas notes that Dante isn't just like Sparda; he also bears resemblance to his mother, Eva.
  • Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Mundus is defeated and The Masquerade is broken... then Vergil starts talking about ruling humanity himself.
  • You Will Not Evade Me: The Devil Pull and Angelic Lift skills, which bring enemies to you and you to enemies, respectively. You can accompany these skills with a kick or an uppercut if your timing is right.

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