How Dante beat Vergil:

[Exejpgwmv]

(I remember people saying that they'd want to see a thread about this, so here's one.)

Skill: Vergil is obviously the more skilled of the two brothers. His movements are quicker and more precise; obvious signs of actual training. As apposed to Dante's more self taught style of fighting.

But keep in mind, Vergil does not suffer from the "Rule of Cool", so the skill gap isn't that large.

Experience: Not much to talk about here. They both have roughly the same amount of experience fighting various demons since they were young.
Though Dante has a little more because he attracted a lot more attention to himself.

Knowledge of Each Others Styles: Vergil is actually at a disadvantage here.
Dante has actually fought several enemies that have a very similar style to Vergil's. While Vergil probably hasn't encountered anything like Dante before.

Weapon Variety: Obviously, Dante's arsenal is a lot more versatile and unpredictable than Vergil's Yamato and Summoned Swords combo.

Strength: This one goes to Dante, almost all of Dante's attacks does more damage when compared to one of Vergil's.
And he punched back Mundus in his giant form with his bare hands, while Vergil was struggling against him.

Speed: Vergil wins by a landslide on this front.
All of his melee attacks are faster and he recovers a lot faster. Plus his ability to teleport makes his dodge almost instantaneous.

Devil Trigger: Dante wins here as well because his takes away the most powerful part of Vergil's; the Doppelganger.

There you have it: Dante wins in 5 categories and Vergil only wins in 2.
So it honestly isn't much of a stretch that Dante won in their final confrontation.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Disagreed on experience. Dante's been fighting demons ever since the very moment of Eva's death.

As for Vergil, the combination of Mundus's obliviousness to his existence and a comfortable childhood with a rich family allowed him to live a way easier life than Dante, safe from demons' chasing.

Hence I don't see how he would have "roughly the same amount of experience" as Dante when it comes to actually fighting demons. As in, melee fighting. It's clear to me that Dante gets a rather big advantage here, not just a little.

 

[Exejpgwmv]

Disagreed on experience. Dante's been fighting demons ever since the very moment of Eva's death.

As for Vergil, the combination of Mundus's obliviousness to his existence and a comfortable childhood with a rich family allowed him to live a way easier life than Dante, safe from demons' chasing.

Hence I don't see how he would have "roughly the same amount of experience" as Dante when it comes to actually fighting demons. As in, melee fighting. It's clear to me that Dante gets a rather big advantage here, not just a little.

True, but I did want to give Vergil the benefit of the doubt since he used to do what Dante did in the main game.
The comics showed him going on missions and killing boss level demons.

 

[berto]

Disagreed on experience. Dante's been fighting demons ever since the very moment of Eva's death.

As for Vergil, the combination of Mundus's obliviousness to his existence and a comfortable childhood with a rich family allowed him to live a way easier life than Dante, safe from demons' chasing.

Hence I don't see how he would have "roughly the same amount of experience" as Dante when it comes to actually fighting demons. As in, melee fighting. It's clear to me that Dante gets a rather big advantage here, not just a little.

According to the comic Vergil has been fighting demons in Limbo for a long time. He was searching for Dante and purifying parts of Limbo. Aparently those areas where Dante traveled to train for the weapons and where the statue he liberated was is a place Vergil purified.

 

[Foxtrot94]

According to the comic Vergil has been fighting demons in Limbo for a long time.

Not as long as Dante anyway, since he's been fighting demons even during his childhood, while Vergil was never chased by them and was adopted by a rich family living in peace till he recovered his memory.

 

[berto]

Not as long as Dante anyway, since he's been fighting demons even during his childhood, while Vergil was never chased by them and was adopted by a rich family living in peace till he recovered his memory.

Yeah, but that is a rather narrow presumption, that wealth means a comfortable life. Vergil can fight and he can fight very well, and by that logic, that he was living a pampered life, he wouldn't be able to hold his own against Dante or the demons he fought after and before.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Yeah, but that is a rather narrow presumption, that wealth means a comfortable life. Vergil can fight and he can fight very well, and by that logic, that he was living a pampered life, he wouldn't be able to hold his own against Dante or the demons he fought after and before.

Oh yeah I'm sure he was struggling so much to survive. LOL come on berto.

Besides, that's not the only point. As I said, Mindus was also oblivious to his existence so he was never chased hence he didn't have to defend himself, hence he's got less experience than Dante ny a considerable amount.

And he could very well have followed a swordmanship course while he was with his foster family. It wouldn't be the first time rich people get portrayed pursuing this kind of pastime.

 

[berto]

Oh yeah I'm sure he was struggling so much to survive. LOL come on berto.

Besides, that's not the only point. As I said, Mindus was also oblivious to his existence so he was never chased hence he didn't have to defend himself, hence he's got less experience than Dante ny a considerable amount.

And he could very well have followed a swordmanship course while he was with his foster family. It wouldn't be the first time rich people get portrayed pursuing this kind of pastime.

Money doesn't protect you in Limbo. You make it sound like been rich meant that he wasn't in danger when he fought demons. Just because the demons weren't chasing him doesn't mean he was not defending himself when he fought them, it's not some kind of protective blanket. 'He's rich so he wasn't in danger when he fought demons' is a very dismissive stand to take, in fact, it's kinda condescending. I'm not saying he was more experienced than Dante but you make it sound like he was just sitting around in his mansion enjoying a lemonade when in fact he dove in head first in to the fire chasing after Dante, so he is not without struggles of his own.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Money doesn't protect you in Limbo. You make it sound like been rich meant that he wasn't in danger when he fought demons. Just because the demons weren't chasing him doesn't mean he was not defending himself when he fought them, it's not some kind of protective blanket. 'He's rich so he wasn't in danger when he fought demons' is not a very dismissive stand to take, in fact, it's kinda condescending. I'm not saying he was more experienced than Dante but you make it sound like he was just sitting around in his mansion enjoying a lemonade when in fact he dove in head first in to the fire chasing after Dante, so he is not without struggles of his own.

You're not following me. What I mean is that since demons weren't after him, he didn't get the chance to fight as many and as relentless as Dante.

Dante's been chased his all life, Vergil hasn't. Therefore, Dante's gotta be the one with more experience, and not by a little.

 

[berto]

You're not following me. What I mean is that since demons weren't after him, he didn't get the chance to fight as many and as relentless as Dante.

Dante's been chased his all life, Vergil hasn't. Therefore, Dante's gotta be the one with more experience, and not by a little.

Well, how old do you think they are? Because they were separated at 7, so how long after that did Vergil start his quest to take the demon lord down? It wasn't a matter of months for him to set up the order, it was a matter of years. Before that he was out looking for Dante and cleansing Limbo. Even before then, both he and Dante were training as children so they've been fighting for a long time.

If you remember, also, that flashback where they fighting with stick swords the idea always was that Dante was better than Vergil, it wasn't a matter of experience nor how rough the other had it by contrast. Do you really think the fight would've gone any differently if both Dante and Vergil had the same background post their memory wipes?

 

[Foxtrot94]

Do you really think the fight would've gone any differently if both Dante and Vergil had the same background post their memory wipes?

No I don't. In fact what I'm saying goes to further support Dante's victory over Vergil LOL

 

[absolitude]

need to add up, motivation also beats vergil, vergil was less motivated since he only wants to conquer, and he was pressured from both dante and kat, that's like me vs the world to him, luckily his pride and confident keeps him calm and collected when fighting dante..

dante was motivated by anger of being used as a tool for a not so right purpose, that and the motivation to protect the realm he grew up in..

for my taste, the motivation to protect is way bigger than to conquer

 

[Foxtrot94]

need to add up, motivation also beats vergil, vergil was less motivated since he only wants to conquer, and he was pressured from both dante and kat, that's like me vs the world to him, luckily his pride and confident keeps him calm and collected when fighting dante..

dante was motivated by anger of being used as a tool for a not so right purpose, that and the motivation to protect the realm he grew up in..

for my taste, the motivation to protect is way bigger than to conquer

Vergil not motivated enough... hehehe the irony.

 

[absolitude]

Vergil not motivated enough... hehehe the irony.

yep, but no matter how motivated he will be, he will never beat dante, script tells him so --whichever universe, the poor guy that everybody loves.. but it will be interesting if vergil is somehow fated to be the only one who could take dante's life, maybe by the end of the saga.. that would be legend

 

[devil_inside123]

U also have to take into consideration their mental state during that fight, Vergil seemed more confident so he might not have had his guard all the way up while Dante was angry and going for a kill

 

[Demi-fiend]

I like that theory more than, "Vergil simply wasn't good enough."

 

[Foxtrot94]

U also have to take into consideration their mental state during that fight, Vergil seemed more confident so he might not have had his guard all the way up while Dante was angry and going for a kill

I agree with the first part, but only partly with the second one. He was only going for the kill towards the end of the fight, in fact during the battle he wants Vergil to stop. Remember? He says "It's not too late." at one point, inviting Vergil to give up the fight and his goal.

And that leads me to believe that Dante was kind of holding back during most of the fight, and despite that, was still giving Vergil a pretty hard time, even with his Doppleganger DT on. And obviously he eventually destroyed him once he DT'd too.

So, ultimately, I think it's pretty safe to conclude that yeah Vergil simply wasn't good enough for Dante. The game makes no secret of that either, as @berto said, there is significant foreshadowing in the game: those flashback of the two of them fighting with wooden swords and Dante winning over Vergil. Heck, the script further foreshadows this by the end, when they reach Mundus's office. When they start their banter there, who says "I'm stronger"? Coincidence? I don't think so.

 

[KRSkull]

There is one thing that everyone forgot. Their fighting style.

Dante's fighting style is wild. So its hard to anticipate his next move. While Vergil fighting style is more strategic.

 

[absolitude]

Dick: Vergil wins this department