Characters of the Devil May Cry series

Did You Know?

• Series creator Hideki Kamiya said the title character from the manga Cobra by Buichi Terasawa was the basis for Dante.
• The game is loosely based on the Italian poem the Divine Comedy, with characters named after Dante Alighieri, Virgil, and Beatrice Portinari.
• Hideaki Itsuno decided Capcom's staff should develop Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening shortly after the release of Devil May Cry 2.

Protagonists

Dante, the primary protagonist, is a mercenary specializing in the paranormal and the main playable character in the first three games. He is one of the twin sons of Sparda, a demon knight who sided with humanity 2,000 years before the series. Dante was voiced by Drew Coombs in the original game, Matthew Kaminsky in Devil May Cry 2, and Reuben Langdon in all subsequent appearances; his Japanese voice is Toshiyuki Morikawa. In the Netflix series, he is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch.

Nero, introduced in Devil May Cry 4, is an orphan adopted by the Order of the Sword who becomes a Holy Knight. He is the son of Vergil, making him Dante's nephew and Sparda's grandson. Nero is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch in English and Kaito Ishikawa in Japanese, and returns as a primary protagonist in Devil May Cry 5. Trish is a demon created by Mundus who resembles Dante's mother Eva, possessing enhanced strength, agility, accelerated healing, and lightning abilities.

She is playable in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, and has been voiced by several actresses in English, including Sarah Lafleur, Danielle Burgio, Wendee Lee, and Luci Christian, with Atsuko Tanaka providing her Japanese voice.

Antagonists

Vergil is the series' main antagonist and Dante's older identical twin brother, who embraces his demonic side and seeks power. He is a primary antagonist in Devil May Cry 3 and a playable character in its special edition, later becoming Mundus's servant Nelo Angelo in the first game. He appears in Devil May Cry 4 and is playable in its special edition, hinting at his relation to Nero. In Devil May Cry 5, he is revealed as Nero's father and steals the Yamato; his rivalry with Dante becomes friendly.

Vergil also appears in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. He is voiced by Daniel Southworth in English, with Nelo Angelo voiced by David Kelley in the first game and Robbie Daymond in the Netflix series; his Japanese voice is Hiroaki Hirata. Mundus is the Emperor of the Underworld and overarching antagonist, first appearing as the main antagonist of the original game. He is a semi-amorphous creature with three orb-like eyes who can take a seraph form.

Millennia ago, he led demons in war with humanity until betrayed and defeated by Sparda. After Sparda's death, Mundus sent minions to murder Dante's mother Eva and seemingly kill Vergil. He later captured Vergil and turned him into the first Angelo demon. In the first game, Mundus poses as a statue on Mallet Island, corrupting inhabitants, and crafts Trish to hire Dante. He monitors Dante's progress and personally kills his servant Griffon.

Supporting characters

Sparda was a demonic knight who turned against his own kind for the sake of humanity two millennia before the events of Vergil's Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition. He defeated numerous demons and their emperor, Mundus, then sealed the passage between the demonic and human realms. To do this, he sacrificed his own blood along with that of a mortal priestess, using a pair of matching amulets as the key. He left his power inside his sword, called either the Force Edge or the Sparda.

Late in his life, he married a human woman named Eva and had twin sons, Dante and Vergil. He gave each son a magical sword: Rebellion, which lets the user absorb anything, and Yamato, which can split a being or open a path to the Demon World. How Sparda died remains unknown, and Dante believed much about his father and his legacy was unclear. Eva was Sparda's human wife and the mother of Dante and Vergil.

She gave each son half of Sparda's amulet as a birthday gift. Demons sent by Mundus murdered her in her Red Grave City home while she searched for Vergil after hiding Dante. Mundus later created Trish in Eva's image to try to trap Dante. In English, Eva is voiced by Wendee Lee in Devil May Cry 5 and Kari Wahlgren in the Netflix series; in Japanese, by Atsuko Tanaka and Mamiko Noto.

Kalina Ann was the mother of Lady and wife of Arkham. Her husband killed her in a ritual to gain demonic power, which drove their daughter to seek revenge. Lady named her signature missile launcher after her. Kalina Ann appears only in flashbacks in the Netflix series, voiced by Erica Lindbeck.

Demons

Agni & Rudra are two demon brothers taking the form of scimitars, sealed by Sparda in Temen-ni-gru and guarding the Firestorm Chamber. They animate two headless golems with powers over fire and wind. Upon defeat, they ask to be taken as weapons by Dante. In the Netflix series, they are two demons resembling the golems, acting as enforcers of the White Rabbit.

They are voiced by Larry Leong in Devil May Cry 3 and Ray Chase in the Netflix series. Arachne are demons born from souls of human women transformed into spider-like monsters, roaming the lower levels of Temen-Ni-Gru. Artemis is a demonic sentient gun created by Machiavelli, obtained by Dante. Trish and Lady used it against Urizen, but after their defeat, Urizen allowed Artemis to use Lady as a host to grow a demonic body.

Artemis aids Urizen in gathering blood until Nero defeats her, freeing Lady. She is voiced by Elizabeth Hales in Devil May Cry 5. Bael and Dagon are large toad-like demons with ice control, leading a demon infestation at Fortuna Castle. Bael lures Nero with rusalkas but is killed, warning of Dagon.

Dagon emerges, freezes the castle, and nearly devours Dante before being killed. They are voiced by Kyle Hebert in Devil May Cry 4.