A Complete Breakdown of the Devil May Cry Series
Devil May Cry
The first Devil May Cry mainly deals with the introduction of Dante and the world around him, though there are some elements and characters that have lasting relevance in the series.
The world itself is presented as one separated between the human world and the demon world.
Both have been kept separated save for a scant amount of demons which find their way to the human world, though some groups and individuals have tried to connect the two worlds in the past in a vie to control both.
As such, demon hunters are needed to keep the peace and stop those that want to connect the two worlds, with those like series protagonist Dante acting as peacekeepers for hire.
Dante, The Son of Sparda
Enter Dante, a Devil Hunter who is half demon himself and hunts other demons as a means of tracking down the devil who killed his mother and brother.
All he has to remember them by is a mysterious amulet left to him by his mother. It is one of a pair given to him and his brother, with the other lost after his brother died.
He has an incredible aptitude for learning how to use weapons, and can implement them into his arsenal almost immediately.
However, two weapons, in particular, play a vital role in his arsenal: The Force Edge, a sword left to him by his father, and his dual pistols known as Ebony and Ivory.
Both are indispensable to him and, in several cases, can be imbued with power from Dante or other characters to take down more fearsome adversaries.
He likewise knows how to incorporate his demonic abilities into combat, surviving otherwise deadly attacks and enhancing his own agility and strength through the use of demonic energy.
Nelo Angelo
All of this comes into play when he is hired by Trish, a mysterious woman resembling his mother and has special abilities of her own, to stop the rise of the demon world’s current ruler Mundus.
As it turns out, Mundus is the demon responsible for his family’s deaths. For this reason, Dante accepts and accompanies Trish to an island with an ancient castle.
Once there, Dante battles his way through countless demons, some of which speak to his lineage as the son of the demon Sparda, a dark knight who betrayed his own kind to save the human realm.
The most important of these demons is Nelo Angelo, a silent swordsman who Dante confronts repeatedly before it is revealed he is Dante’s supposedly dead brother Vergil, stuck under the control of Mundus.
This is hinted at several times leading up to their final confrontation – most notably when Nelo stops short of killing Dante after seeing his amulet – and as such it’s unclear whether he truly wanted to kill Dante or if he wanted to be killed himself.
It’s also unclear whether Vergil is actually killed in their final confrontation, with several other boss demons returning even after being killed through some way, shape or form.
All the same, Dante frees his brother from Mundus’ control, acquiring his amulet in the process. With it, he awakens the true form of the Force Edge, revealing it to be the Sparda blade wielded by his father.
In addition to allowing Dante to manifest the true strength passed down to him by his father, the Sparda also has the power to unseal the barrier in place between the human and demon worlds.
Devils Never Cry
With this power in hand, Dante then goes to confront Mundus only to be betrayed by Trish, who reveals that she was a demon created by Mundus and had been working for him all along.
Despite this, Dante still saves her when she is nearly killed by some falling rubble after a battle with her and one of Mundus’ minions. He claims to do this because she looks like his mother, but abandons her to her punishment for failure by Mundus.
Shortly after, Dante finally comes face to face with Mundus but is quickly overpowered when Mundus threatens to kill Trish. Before he can be killed though, Trish saves him at the apparent cost of her own life.
Enraged, Dante awakens his true power as a son of Sparda, overpowering Mundus. This causes the island to start collapsing, and though he can’t kill him at first, Trish returns and assists him. Together, they deliver a finishing blow.
Trish apologizes to Dante for her betrayal, shedding tears as she does so. Dante then reveals to her that she may not be entirely demonic and evil after all, saying that devils never cry.
The two escape, working together to hunt demons as partners throughout the rest of the series. Trish is able to utilize both the powers granted to her by Mundus as well as Sparda, with Dante using his firearms and ever-growing demon weapon arsenal.
Likewise, they rename Dante’s business to Devil Never Cry, which it retains through later entries.
