V

Devil May Cry 5's frail summoner, and the human half of Vergil.

V is one of the three playable protagonists of Devil May Cry 5. A slight, sickly young man with demonic ties, he walks into Dante's office as a new client, sets him on the trail of the demon king Urizen and brings Nero along as back-up. The game later reveals that V is the human half of Vergil, split off when Vergil used the Yamato on himself, while Urizen is his demonic half.

V hardly fights in person. He commands three familiars, the bird Griffon, the cat-like Shadow and the huge Nightmare, and only steps in with his cane to finish off demons they have worn down.

Quick Facts

Game

Devil May Cry 5

True identity

Human half of Vergil

Familiars

Griffon
Shadow
Nightmare

Weapon

Cane

Demonic half

Urizen

Facts from the source article.

Background

The familiars are physical forms of Vergil's memories of his time as Nelo Angelo under Mundus, and when they are not called they sit on V's body as black tattoos and colour his white hair black. Because he holds only a sliver of Vergil's demonic power, his body is slowly crumbling, and the only way to save himself is to merge back with Urizen.

During the game V hunts for Sparda's sword, finds the comatose Dante hidden beside it and wakes him by driving the blade into the ground next to his head. Most of V's moves are named after chess terms, and he carries Vergil's book of poetry, reciting William Blake.

Director Hideaki Itsuno wanted a third hero who played nothing like Dante or Nero, with attacking and defending handled separately, and he has said V was the hardest character to make for the game. Early concepts called him 'Gilver', after the name Vergil uses in disguise in the Devil May Cry novel.