Stylish Nero
We Dem Boys!!
Geez I'm surprised you guys are having such a heated extended discussion over a topic that probably should've been discussed earlier. I mean we are aware Vergil will be in DMC5 since its announcement or better yet before with the leaks claiming Vergil will be involved. I mean there are so much content that has come out we can talk about yet we want to argue over something we knew about months ago. Granted ever since this game was announced most of the discussion on this forum have either been complaining about something (sometimes justified) or arguing over something (like right now).
I would want to throw my hat into this discussion but this is honestly probably the most pointless discussion we can have about this game . A debate on whether a character whose death(s) have always been very vague and ambiguous since it was never concretely stated by the game or even anyone in the dev team whether Vergil was dead as we are just debating over our own interpretations of a scene that really doesn't say anything on the matter, the fact there was a plausible leeway in Vergil returning even before DMC5's announcement and so many people either were expecting or hoping for it kind of makes this just seems like two sides arguing over wanting one direction over another rather than people debating which is an objectively better direction to take the series narrative wise.
I also find it odd that people are arguing over a topic of character revivals/returns in a genre not well known for consistently good stories especially when God of War (arguably the best or most consistently well written story for these types of games) kills off and resurrects their main protagonist (and other characters) almost every game or worst yet the biggest offender of this trope Bayonetta kills off characters frequently only to later reveal their alive a few scenes later or killing off a character legitly only to make it a plot point of actually having to bring them back (and easily succeeding) or using time travel...TIME TRAVEL..to bring back dead characters. Or in DmC when Vergil dies, goes to some metaphorical hell (maybe Eva was there so I'm unsure if it was metaphorical or an actual hell), and returns to life with more power.
I call shenanigans. DMC has only used done that once in DMC1 where Trish dies (its played off as the most dramatic scene in the franchise) only for her to magically come back to life (unexplained) to save Dante at the last minute. Which is IMO worst than Vergil's deaths(??) since it wasn't as vague or was depicted so convincingly (that I was genuinely confused since I played DMC4 not beat but played DMC4 before DMC1 and was aware Trish was alive there). Which was written by Kamiya, who no longer writes for the DMC franchise and abuses that plot device in most of his works..see Bayonetta above....granted Bayonetta 2 was written by Bingo Morihashi (who wrote DMC3, DMC4, and is now writing DMC5) soooooo....well....
DMC2 did it with Arius seemingly being killed by Dante only to be revived by the power of Argosax to serve as Lucia's final boss and Arkham faking his own death to deceive others but those served specific narrative devices outside exploiting audience's emotions and even if people were dooped by Arkham's act and bought into it to feel bad for him only to realize he was manipulating Lady (and I guess to extension some audience) that was a death and revival/return plot device used effectively.
Vergil's didn't die in DMC3. He got trapped in hell...physically. Dante wasn't mourning his actual death and that scene was more less to show that Dante really cared for his brother despite spending most of the game claiming he didn't and only was there to kill him. Dante as far as he knew didn't know if Vergil died or not (Dante went to hell in DMC2 and was stuck there until he finally got out and like Vergil he willingly went there). I'd hardly call Vergil going into battle against Mundus a cliffhanger death since we never see Mundus kill Vergil (on screen) and we know what happens since DMC3 is a prequel to DMC1. Also DMC1 in isolation never made the case that Vergil was killed by Mundus but claimed by its novel that Vergil was alive and well under the monicker of Gilver and that he was undergoing the process of becoming Nelo Angelo. They made the case in the historia of DMC in DMC4 that he was slayed by Mundus (and his soul corrupted and trapped inside Nelo Angelo but he still retained his abilities and fragments of his memories. However all this stuff was offscreen and was more or less used to explain Nelo Angelo's backstory rather than serve as some exploitative measure or a cliffhanger and what happened to him in the end of Nelo Angelo in DMC1 is so vague you can interpret it however you want (until the actual directors/writers give us a concrete answer). The Historia or no other sources claim what happened to Vergil after DMC1 outside the Order receiving fragments of Nelo Angelo's ARMOR alluding to the fact his armor and the container holding Vergil's soul broke apart but doesn't specifically stated Vergil was destroyed along with the armor (which was still in tact enough for Agnus to develop an entire army of Angelos). And watch as the Historia in DMC5 rework that sentence to claim Vergil was corrupted and brainwashed instead of being killed and having his soul used to operate Nelo Angelo.
The thing about Supernatural and other series who lazily use fake out deaths and revivals is that there are no consequences or effects of that character's revival/return. They are usually brought back as they were before the death or there are some consequences but they're short term and things go back to normal. At least with Vergil there are long lasting consequences and changes to his character. He is a borderline zombie clinging on to the last fragments of life he has left still corrupted and affected by what Mundus did to him prior to DMC1 (maybe even worst) and potentially and I say this potentially might be Urizen or connected to him in some way. Meaning Vergil's return serves to the plot than just "fan service". Most fans will want Vergil back as how he was in DMC3 not a disheveled walking corpse that is being used as a power source by the main villain but then again I'm just speculating on Vergil's role in DMC5.
You yourself @TWOxACROSS claimed that there are examples of stories using the death and revival plot point well but before you said it is lazy writing to bring back Vergil since he is supposed to be dead. So isn't that contradictory on your part and wouldn't it be best to wait and see how the writers handle Vergil's return before chalking it up to bad writing if such a plot element can in fact be used effectively.
I personally don't mind it unless its not overly abused and serves the plot rather than just being used for fanservice and since this is claimed to be the end of the Sons of Sparda storyline and Itsuno's last DMC game this is probably the last time we will see Vergil and maybe even Dante.
EDIT
I said I didn't want to get involved but I did anyway.....oh well
I would want to throw my hat into this discussion but this is honestly probably the most pointless discussion we can have about this game . A debate on whether a character whose death(s) have always been very vague and ambiguous since it was never concretely stated by the game or even anyone in the dev team whether Vergil was dead as we are just debating over our own interpretations of a scene that really doesn't say anything on the matter, the fact there was a plausible leeway in Vergil returning even before DMC5's announcement and so many people either were expecting or hoping for it kind of makes this just seems like two sides arguing over wanting one direction over another rather than people debating which is an objectively better direction to take the series narrative wise.
I also find it odd that people are arguing over a topic of character revivals/returns in a genre not well known for consistently good stories especially when God of War (arguably the best or most consistently well written story for these types of games) kills off and resurrects their main protagonist (and other characters) almost every game or worst yet the biggest offender of this trope Bayonetta kills off characters frequently only to later reveal their alive a few scenes later or killing off a character legitly only to make it a plot point of actually having to bring them back (and easily succeeding) or using time travel...TIME TRAVEL..to bring back dead characters. Or in DmC when Vergil dies, goes to some metaphorical hell (maybe Eva was there so I'm unsure if it was metaphorical or an actual hell), and returns to life with more power.
I would say because those instances handle the deaths and revivals of those characters well; DMC, Supernatural, and many others, use it as a crutch for dumb cliffhangers and exploiting the audience's emotions.
I call shenanigans. DMC has only used done that once in DMC1 where Trish dies (its played off as the most dramatic scene in the franchise) only for her to magically come back to life (unexplained) to save Dante at the last minute. Which is IMO worst than Vergil's deaths(??) since it wasn't as vague or was depicted so convincingly (that I was genuinely confused since I played DMC4 not beat but played DMC4 before DMC1 and was aware Trish was alive there). Which was written by Kamiya, who no longer writes for the DMC franchise and abuses that plot device in most of his works..see Bayonetta above....granted Bayonetta 2 was written by Bingo Morihashi (who wrote DMC3, DMC4, and is now writing DMC5) soooooo....well....
DMC2 did it with Arius seemingly being killed by Dante only to be revived by the power of Argosax to serve as Lucia's final boss and Arkham faking his own death to deceive others but those served specific narrative devices outside exploiting audience's emotions and even if people were dooped by Arkham's act and bought into it to feel bad for him only to realize he was manipulating Lady (and I guess to extension some audience) that was a death and revival/return plot device used effectively.
Vergil's didn't die in DMC3. He got trapped in hell...physically. Dante wasn't mourning his actual death and that scene was more less to show that Dante really cared for his brother despite spending most of the game claiming he didn't and only was there to kill him. Dante as far as he knew didn't know if Vergil died or not (Dante went to hell in DMC2 and was stuck there until he finally got out and like Vergil he willingly went there). I'd hardly call Vergil going into battle against Mundus a cliffhanger death since we never see Mundus kill Vergil (on screen) and we know what happens since DMC3 is a prequel to DMC1. Also DMC1 in isolation never made the case that Vergil was killed by Mundus but claimed by its novel that Vergil was alive and well under the monicker of Gilver and that he was undergoing the process of becoming Nelo Angelo. They made the case in the historia of DMC in DMC4 that he was slayed by Mundus (and his soul corrupted and trapped inside Nelo Angelo but he still retained his abilities and fragments of his memories. However all this stuff was offscreen and was more or less used to explain Nelo Angelo's backstory rather than serve as some exploitative measure or a cliffhanger and what happened to him in the end of Nelo Angelo in DMC1 is so vague you can interpret it however you want (until the actual directors/writers give us a concrete answer). The Historia or no other sources claim what happened to Vergil after DMC1 outside the Order receiving fragments of Nelo Angelo's ARMOR alluding to the fact his armor and the container holding Vergil's soul broke apart but doesn't specifically stated Vergil was destroyed along with the armor (which was still in tact enough for Agnus to develop an entire army of Angelos). And watch as the Historia in DMC5 rework that sentence to claim Vergil was corrupted and brainwashed instead of being killed and having his soul used to operate Nelo Angelo.
The thing about Supernatural and other series who lazily use fake out deaths and revivals is that there are no consequences or effects of that character's revival/return. They are usually brought back as they were before the death or there are some consequences but they're short term and things go back to normal. At least with Vergil there are long lasting consequences and changes to his character. He is a borderline zombie clinging on to the last fragments of life he has left still corrupted and affected by what Mundus did to him prior to DMC1 (maybe even worst) and potentially and I say this potentially might be Urizen or connected to him in some way. Meaning Vergil's return serves to the plot than just "fan service". Most fans will want Vergil back as how he was in DMC3 not a disheveled walking corpse that is being used as a power source by the main villain but then again I'm just speculating on Vergil's role in DMC5.
You yourself @TWOxACROSS claimed that there are examples of stories using the death and revival plot point well but before you said it is lazy writing to bring back Vergil since he is supposed to be dead. So isn't that contradictory on your part and wouldn't it be best to wait and see how the writers handle Vergil's return before chalking it up to bad writing if such a plot element can in fact be used effectively.
I personally don't mind it unless its not overly abused and serves the plot rather than just being used for fanservice and since this is claimed to be the end of the Sons of Sparda storyline and Itsuno's last DMC game this is probably the last time we will see Vergil and maybe even Dante.
EDIT
I said I didn't want to get involved but I did anyway.....oh well
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