What made Vergil be the way that he was?

[Vergillicious]

I know I'm getting to deeply into his character. But I've always wanted to know what made him so heartless and cold..so spiteful. Why he hates knowing the fact that he's part human. He loved his mother dearly and yet she was the one that gave him his human gene..and the fact that he despised his father and twin brother. Why..?

 

[seraphmaycry]

he loved his mother????? im pretty sure the without power you can protect yourself line was just mocking dante not him wishing he could have protected eva or something like that.

my version of Vergil well that's a story for another day breif summary of what i think the answer is

he wanted power he was born wanting power his demonic power was a entity in itself it started controlling him manipulating making him put power above everything else

sprta like that singer person in the anime

Singer: my... my music
Demon: yes your precious music let'skill for it *transforms* yes... yes kill kill

or something like that i don't remember how the uh conversation(??????) went

also you were a member for 2 years and i somehow missed you? wow..... hi

 

[LysseC]

The problem is, we are told nearly anything about his motives or his past. One can try and read his infamous "you can't protect anything" line in a lot of senses: him feeling guilty for not being able to protect Eva, him being afraid of not being able to protect himself if a truly powerful demon attacked, him mocking Dante for being weak... And then, one can say that he is evil because he is born so, or that he hates humanity because of his childhood trauma, or whatever else.
As far as DMC3 goes, all of these interpretations are in principle acceptable. As much as I love DMC3, and Vergil in general, and as much as I love his bantering with Dante, his representation as a character is really poor.

Well, now that DmC is out, one can try and compare DMC3 Vergil to DmC Vergil after VD, and by analogy tell that DMC3 Vergil became like that because he had to strengthen himself when faced with difficult events in his life (probably the tragic event of Eva's death, or a possible previous confrontation with Dante), but this would make little sense to me, DmC being a reboot and the world and the situations being very different from DMC3.

I personally prefer to think that he became power hungry as a sick reaction to the vents that led to Eva's death, but this is only my personal preference.

 

[V's patron]

The thing is there is no context given for the world they live in or even the shared past Dante or Vergil may have so you are not given enough info to draw solid conclusions from.

 

[VineBigBoss]

I think that he's guilty for not being able to protect his mother. In the manga that was never finished it was made clear that he saw the demons killing her mother and Dante was hidden in a closet, Dante shares the same feeling but the trauma not made him go so far to compensate that tragedy.

I think the game itself throws tips that it's guilty, notably because Vergil tries very hard to not show emotions and be more like a demon, and they never talk about their mother too, it's kinda weird but i think they do not talk about this directly because it's really painful for both. But in the end of the game he gave up to act like this (but in a classy and very "Vergile" way), look again at the scene where he falls in that waterfall in the demon world, he leaves other mark in Dante's gloves (and show Dante keeping this glove in his shop) to leave a keepsake of him with his brother. He cares for the peoples he loves, but his trauma made him go after power at all costs. And one point that is recurrent on nearly every DMC game is the "human factor", the human abilities to love and care for each other, and he barely have a conversation with Dante that goes this way when he say to Vergil that in their veins flow the blood of Sparda, but "more importantly, his soul", i read this like his ability to fight for the humans and care for them that only Sparda had within all the other demons. And in the end, sounds like Vergil understanded this message when he tries and fight Mundus in the demon world, he says: "If my father did it, i should be able to do it too!", when in the whole game he shows resistance in calling Sparda "my father" (and it feels like a emotion of "betrayal", by his father disappearing and leting his wife and childs without protection, Dante look to see it in the same way at the beginning of DMC3). In the end he says proud that he is a son of Sparda when decides to keep his amulet, and even decide that he will stay in the demon world because "it was our father's home"

Obviously, i'm mixing my own speculations with hints given in the game, but is as this that i see it. I think he let his feeling of impotence while his mother was getting killed spread on all his life and dictates for what he would live for. He thinks he needs power to protect whatever he comes to love, or besides he wanted that power to kill once and for all his humanity and never feel "sad" anymore.

Check this cinematic and the other before this, try to see the way i put it here and something new might come to your mind.

 

[meg5493]

One part I liked was the last level between Dante and Vergil. Dante asks Vergil what he plans on doing once he got the power of Sparda and Vergil blows up at him giving an excuse not to answer him. I think Vergil pushed himself all his life to get his father's power ever since Eva died that he never really thought what he would do with the power he only worked toward it. Vergil was pretty indifferent towards humans he never attacked lady even when she went at him but he didn't seem to care about what would happen to them when he opened the hell gate and demons started coming out. He hated his human side because he viewed it as weak. Which was the complete opposite of Dante. By the end of the game he acknowledged Dante and instead of letting Dante stay in hell with him, because Vergil knew Dante would, he fell of the cliff not letting Dante follow.

 

[Lionheart]

Vergil was never hesitant about calling Sparda his father. I think you got that wrong. Dante was the one who said ''Father? I don't have a father. I just don't like you, that's all'' after Vergil asked ''Why do you refuse to gain power? The power of our father?''

I interpret it in almost the same way as you do. The difference being:

Vergil reveres his father, but believes Sparda did not have enough power to protect the people he loved (Eva and the kids).
Dante hates his father for not being able to protect them. At least, that's obvious in DMC3. In DMC1, I think he's more positive about his father. Even at the end of DMC3, he says ''we are the sons of Sparda'', so by that time, he had at least accepted that he had a father. He likes to think Sparda was more human than demon, and didn't want power just for the sake of it. And he's right.

 

[VineBigBoss]

Yes, i think your view suits well with the actual lines in the game. I have forgotten that in the first dialogue Vergil mention Sparda as "our father".

 

[Vergillicious]

I think that he's guilty for not being able to protect his mother. In the manga that was never finished it was made clear that he saw the demons killing her mother and Dante was hidden in a closet, Dante shares the same feeling but the trauma not made him go so far to compensate that tragedy.

I think the game itself throws tips that it's guilty, notably because Vergil tries very hard to not show emotions and be more like a demon, and they never talk about their mother too, it's kinda weird but i think they do not talk about this directly because it's really painful for both. But in the end of the game he gave up to act like this (but in a classy and very "Vergile" way), look again at the scene where he falls in that waterfall in the demon world, he leaves other mark in Dante's gloves (and show Dante keeping this glove in his shop) to leave a keepsake of him with his brother. He cares for the peoples he loves, but his trauma made him go after power at all costs. And one point that is recurrent on nearly every DMC game is the "human factor", the human abilities to love and care for each other, and he barely have a conversation with Dante that goes this way when he say to Vergil that in their veins flow the blood of Sparda, but "more importantly, his soul", i read this like his ability to fight for the humans and care for them that only Sparda had within all the other demons. And in the end, sounds like Vergil understanded this message when he tries and fight Mundus in the demon world, he says: "If my father did it, i should be able to do it too!", when in the whole game he shows resistance in calling Sparda "my father" (and it feels like a emotion of "betrayal", by his father disappearing and leting his wife and childs without protection, Dante look to see it in the same way at the beginning of DMC3). In the end he says proud that he is a son of Sparda when decides to keep his amulet, and even decide that he will stay in the demon world because "it was our father's home"

Obviously, i'm mixing my own speculations with hints given in the game, but is as this that i see it. I think he let his feeling of impotence while his mother was getting killed spread on all his life and dictates for what he would live for. He thinks he needs power to protect whatever he comes to love, or besides he wanted that power to kill once and for all his humanity and never feel "sad" anymore.

Check this cinematic and the other before this, try to see the way i put it here and something new might come to your mind.

I think that he's guilty for not being able to protect his mother. In the manga that was never finished it was made clear that he saw the demons killing her mother and Dante was hidden in a closet, Dante shares the same feeling but the trauma not made him go so far to compensate that tragedy.

I think the game itself throws tips that it's guilty, notably because Vergil tries very hard to not show emotions and be more like a demon, and they never talk about their mother too, it's kinda weird but i think they do not talk about this directly because it's really painful for both. But in the end of the game he gave up to act like this (but in a classy and very "Vergile" way), look again at the scene where he falls in that waterfall in the demon world, he leaves other mark in Dante's gloves (and show Dante keeping this glove in his shop) to leave a keepsake of him with his brother. He cares for the peoples he loves, but his trauma made him go after power at all costs. And one point that is recurrent on nearly every DMC game is the "human factor", the human abilities to love and care for each other, and he barely have a conversation with Dante that goes this way when he say to Vergil that in their veins flow the blood of Sparda, but "more importantly, his soul", i read this like his ability to fight for the humans and care for them that only Sparda had within all the other demons. And in the end, sounds like Vergil understanded this message when he tries and fight Mundus in the demon world, he says: "If my father did it, i should be able to do it too!", when in the whole game he shows resistance in calling Sparda "my father" (and it feels like a emotion of "betrayal", by his father disappearing and leting his wife and childs without protection, Dante look to see it in the same way at the beginning of DMC3). In the end he says proud that he is a son of Sparda when decides to keep his amulet, and even decide that he will stay in the demon world because "it was our father's home"

Obviously, i'm mixing my own speculations with hints given in the game, but is as this that i see it. I think he let his feeling of impotence while his mother was getting killed spread on all his life and dictates for what he would live for. He thinks he needs power to protect whatever he comes to love, or besides he wanted that power to kill once and for all his humanity and never feel "sad" anymore.

Check this cinematic and the other before this, try to see the way i put it here and something new might come to your mind.

I think that he's guilty for not being able to protect his mother. In the manga that was never finished it was made clear that he saw the demons killing her mother and Dante was hidden in a closet, Dante shares the same feeling but the trauma not made him go so far to compensate that tragedy.

I think the game itself throws tips that it's guilty, notably because Vergil tries very hard to not show emotions and be more like a demon, and they never talk about their mother too, it's kinda weird but i think they do not talk about this directly because it's really painful for both. But in the end of the game he gave up to act like this (but in a classy and very "Vergile" way), look again at the scene where he falls in that waterfall in the demon world, he leaves other mark in Dante's gloves (and show Dante keeping this glove in his shop) to leave a keepsake of him with his brother. He cares for the peoples he loves, but his trauma made him go after power at all costs. And one point that is recurrent on nearly every DMC game is the "human factor", the human abilities to love and care for each other, and he barely have a conversation with Dante that goes this way when he say to Vergil that in their veins flow the blood of Sparda, but "more importantly, his soul", i read this like his ability to fight for the humans and care for them that only Sparda had within all the other demons. And in the end, sounds like Vergil understanded this message when he tries and fight Mundus in the demon world, he says: "If my father did it, i should be able to do it too!", when in the whole game he shows resistance in calling Sparda "my father" (and it feels like a emotion of "betrayal", by his father disappearing and leting his wife and childs without protection, Dante look to see it in the same way at the beginning of DMC3). In the end he says proud that he is a son of Sparda when decides to keep his amulet, and even decide that he will stay in the demon world because "it was our father's home"

Obviously, i'm mixing my own speculations with hints given in the game, but is as this that i see it. I think he let his feeling of impotence while his mother was getting killed spread on all his life and dictates for what he would live for. He thinks he needs power to protect whatever he comes to love, or besides he wanted that power to kill once and for all his humanity and never feel "sad" anymore.

Check this cinematic and the other before this, try to see the way i put it here and something new might come to your mind.

Wow I feel that you have gotten it down flat! That's exactly what I thought about his situation. Vergil seems like he's more emotional but since it's human feelings he hides and covers it with his coldness. He's a very honorable character. He must have carried the weight of their mothers death till the very end. That it was his fault for not being there to protect her. He's very sheltered and doesnt want to show any weakness. Even though he held such great hatered for his father, in the end he was very proud to be the son of the legendary dark knight Sparda. As he was limping backwards towards the waterfall he said "it's mine..it belongs to a son of Sparda" as if he was honored to posses such a momento that once belonged to their father. I think maybe in the end right before he charged mundus he had forgiven his father..I don't know haha maybe I'm just spewing up nonsense..^^'

 

[Vergillicious]

Uhh whoa! Oops very sorry for triple posting...

 

[Lionheart]

Vergil doesn't seem to hate Sparda at all. Never did. He just thought that Sparda's humanity was what did him in. It's alluded to that it's the opposite; namely that humanity gives you more strength than the demonic part. At the same time, Vergil hates humans for being so weak. In UMVC3, Vergil says he's disgusted by Trish, no doubt because she takes the form of a human - their mother, no less. The epitomy of weakness. He doesn't like things that are more than a singular thing. Dante accepts that he's part human, and Vergil does not. He wants to be pure; a full demon. But like Dante said, "no matter how hard you try, you'll never be like father."

 

[Vergillicious]

The thing is there is no context given for the world they live in or even the shared past Dante or Vergil may have so you are not given enough info to draw solid conclusions from.

It's my thoughts that wonder, I can't help that I let my thoughts do what they do. And apparently I'm not the only one.

 

[VineBigBoss]

I know that DMC3 and DMC1 doesn't sum up at all the given information, but, when Nelo Angelo grabs Dante by his neck and he suddenly remember of the past is another "hint" of that human feelings that resides in Vergil's human side, even if it was no intentional by the director. At the final battle (which is my favorite, do sword cancelling or Ifrit tricks on that battle is very badass) he looks much more conscious of what he's doing, i can go as far to say that he wanted a duel to de death with Dante, so in the end Dante "proved" to Vergil that the humanity they have is not a flaw but a gift.

I really think that Devil May Cry could have a great storyline too, at least a very touching one if they had put their work on some remakes (a remake of DMC1 would be SSStylish) and on correcting and improving the given information on the game on new artbooks and things like this. They've made captivating characters, it's half the way to bring up an interesting story, but, yeah, guess we're not like to be seing Dante around too soon again.

 

[LysseC]

I too like the theory that Vergil did what he did because he found a "unhealthy", exaggerated way to compensate for his mother's loss, and the sensation that he felt of not being strong enough to protect her. Looking down on humanity, I think, is a consequence, as he blames his weakness on his human side, while thinking the demonic one is the most important, as it's the side that makes him strong.
And I personally think he came to revere (if he didn't do that already) his father for being one of the most powerful demons.
As for his mother, I personally don't think he resents her for, well, making him half human, because deep down he still loves her (she was a loving mother, after all...)
But, well, I recognize those are just my personal speculations, and if I had to write his lines, I'd follow this idea. But I recognize that other guesses could be just as good.

That's why I really would have liked to have more conspicuous elements coming from the games... Just to know if it was just me, and fans who had a similar impression, or if we got it all wrong... Vergil is such a difficult character to understand...

 

[Lionheart]

No offense, but what I said isn't speculation. It can all be either literally taken from the games, or simply deduced from the dialog. You just need to be able to remember the most important parts of the games, and remember them correctly. Vergil even says that ''without power, you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself'' - another reference to his belief that Sparda lacked the (demonic) power to protect Eva and the twins.

 

[VineBigBoss]

People can understand things we are saying here as speculation because it's not clearly stated in the games and come from our deductions from the dialogues, and as i said... it's tough to make connections between games because of the messed up planning from the directors of the series. But yes, i think that all that the dialogues from DMC3 implied here are nearly correct as we put it, and all that you stated are true too, because:

- Vergil has no other motivation to talk about protection with Dante than because of the incident of them not being able to protect their mother, as we can deduce too: they feel a little hatred for their father not being able to do that too, but they praise him (Dante praise him by his humanity and Vergil for his demonic power).
- I take the words of Dante as nearly as the same as you've stated on one of your posts, when he says: "You're never gonna be like father!" he can be refering to Vergil trying to dispose of his humanity and of him being a half-breed, i think the two statements are true but clearly Dante values most the humanity Sparda had and the urge to protect humans and their world than the demonic power by itself (as yourself mentioned in earlier posts). And as i said before, a recurrent theme in Devil May Cry is the power that humans have to never surrender (this theme appears most in DMC1 and DMC4) including the theme music of DMC4:

 

[VineBigBoss]

EDIT: Sorry for the double post, the server did no responded for the first attempt to post.

 

[Vergillicious]

In DMC3 when Arkham opened the door to the sacrafitial chamber, the part where Vergil was about to walk in and suddenly stops. When he asked Arkham "does that girl really bother you? Why didn't you kill her, perhaps because she is your daughter? Did some pesky fatherly love get in your way?" For some reason I had thought when he said that he felt a little envious cause he never knew the love of his father. but stabbed him cause he saw his weakness "to further your studies of the black arts you sacrificed your loving wife to become a devil as well. Knowing this I thought you'd be more useful to me..but I was wrong" I wonder also even though he had praised him for killing his own wife, he might have also dispised him cause she was a mother. That might have angered him a little.

 

[VineBigBoss]

Good point you got there, this never have crossed my mind before but makes a lot of sense since this dialogue is really in this cinematic.

 

[LysseC]

Never thought about it that way... I always saw that scene as Vergil trying to act strong and cold, to show Arkham and himself as well that he was no longer human...