Alright.
It just screams cop out because they're too lazy to explain the walking plot hole that was Nero in a more interesting way.
Seriously, it's such a lazy way to have everything so conveniently connect and definitely is another example of the series's poor writing. And quite frankly I hate how everything ALWAYS revolves around Sparda and his family tree in this world.
I could go into a rant about how it's lazy and doesn't make sense because of the general timeline of the series (If Vergil visited Fortuna a little over ten years before the game took place, he'd be around the age he was in during DMC3 but
basic math says
if Nero was conceived then, Nero now should therefore be a little over ten years old. He's not.) but I'm just gonna agree with the body of the quoted comment and add on to that using stuff I've said before (because I feel like I can't get my point across any better than the first time I said it).
Same. It is definitely a cop-out. It's getting tiring having every game revolve around Sparda when the series also goes on about how humans have something 'special' that sets them apart from demons, but DMC3 established humans aren't necessarily morally superior so that's out, and the minute we get a new protagonist in the series he's connected to Sparda, cheapening him and making him part of the
Born Special brigade.
It's redundant to even keep including humans as part of the plot and reiterating Sparda's having saved them if they continue to not show what made them worth the effort, and each protagonist is genetically not-entirely-human and/or Sparda-related. Name ONE fully human character in DMC who is still relevant and ask why we haven’t played as them with an
actual plot and not as a skin in a special edition. As it stands, humans are either weak (Kyrie) or they’re cowardly (Enzo) or racist (Lady) or “
worse than demons” (older Patty Lowell, Arkham, Sanctus, Arius) or they’re dead (Eva, Credo) or irrelevant to the larger narrative (Eva, again). There are more morally bad humans than morally good humans or even
bad devils. Three out of four games involve a morally corrupt human doing bad things, and of the good humans that exist, the only use for them is to anchor the superpowered protags, to justify their fight and make them seem better the same way people gravitate towards the hero that saves a puppy. They're just morality pets.
Being
born a devil or partblooded is a free pass to being considered a hero (and even growing more powerful than they started!) as long as they do something tangentially related to “protecting humans”-- even if humans die as a direct result of that character's stupidity (
I’m looking at you, Trish). None of the protags ever
really have to question whether they need all that power or whether it’ll corrupt them. Lucia questioned herself but it was more about the fact that she was directly created by an evil guy, she had no problem being a partblood the natural way. Nero didn't question a thing about himself aside from whether Kyrie would accept him; despite being "the same age Dante is in DMC3" he has the character arc of DMC1 Dante-- that is to say, minimal development. He decided even
before DMC4 started that he'd do whatever it took to protect Kyrie even if it meant giving up his humanity and being exiled from his own town. Of course because he's the protag, related to Sparda, and defending a human, the possibility that he might actually lose himself never really happens, and Kyrie doesn't know anyone who is "as human" as he is. Not even her brother.
Humans getting more powerful, though? Like, actual born humans attaining demonic power? Every single one that's tried is the villain and that's not a coincidence. It's to paint that route as automatically evil and not an option. Not even having good intentions, or being misguided through
direct deception on the part of the villain can bail a character out once they choose that. They die too!
No chance at redemption, ever, unless it means death. (Forever bitter about Credo...)
So, 'being born a demon' isn't a bad thing, but
becoming one is awful. 'Attaining/embracing humanity' is a good thing, but if the character was
born human from the get-go, chances are they're a villain or about to be, otherwise the story doesn't actually revolve around them. They're not the major players. Lady's arc ended with Dante beating her up to convince her not to go forward with her revenge because her determination and humanity wasn't enough, and she only got to shoot Arkham once Dante and Vergil did most of the work and left him crippled at her feet. Anyone remember that? Yeah. That happened.
The end result of this is that humanity is perpetually dependent on a 2000+-year-old dead guy, his halfbreed spawn, and now a quarter-blood to bail them out of supernatural stuff because the humans don’t know any better and can’t
do any better. They can’t actively seek out a cure for their weakness, not even to protect other people because “power is bad, ambition is terrible”, yet who are we playing as again? Ah yes,
powerful supernatural beings. The plot revolves around a full demon, not a human. "Power is bad" as long as people seek it, if they're born with it, they're good to go. The heroes sure aren't getting in line to de-power themselves anytime soon.
What’s funny is that Sparda did that de-powering thing “in ancient times” but then it’s never mentioned again. It’s not that big a deal in the game they brought that up in. Arkham getting out of control and turning into his blob form was just “because he was just
that evil” not “because the power of Sparda itself corrupted him regardless of his morality”. The reason Sparda sealed his power
at all was because he thought the power itself would make him bad, right? Cause the rest of the games don't show it. If anything we get more proof that the power of Sparda is
sapient-- it
knows who it’s being wielded by, their intentions, and therefore whether it should unlock its full potential around them or not– it’s never ever directly helped a villain defeat the hero before and that’s the exact
opposite of an evil/corrupting presence.
So, back to Nero. He could've been a great character. Now he's just another partblood with a genetic ticket for 'humanity' built in by his connection to Sparda, Sparda being
the devil that 'woke up to justice' and defended humans for nebulous reasons not explored in the four games, two special editions, and countless artbooks that have come out and those novels. We still dont know why he did any of that (aside from maybe pity), but he did. We just get hints and teases at it because Dante read a volume on 'How to Be Cryptic' written by Vergil himself and contributed nothing. Sparda is supposed to be a mystery? They should do us a favor and stop bringing him up in every single game. Focus on someone else. Give us someone else. I'm getting tired of the heroes living under Sparda's shadow.
