Nero's origins - What do you think?

[Railazel]

But Vergil wasn't "lost" to evil. He just fought him like 8 years prior to her arrival.

It was a retcon. In the original story was that Vergil would be kidnapped by Mundus when he was young.

 

[Lionheart]

So when Trish said in DMC

"You're the guy who lost a mother and brother to evil 10 years ago..."

The hell was she talking about?

I know this is a late reply, but what Trish actually said was ''You're the man who lost a mother and a brother to evil twenty years ago'' - meaning Dante is 28 in DMC1. He's about 19 in DMC3, and around 30 in DMC4. He's probably 35 or so in DMC2, though that's just a guess.

 

[gaiusofdante1991]

This is what I know about Nero:

1. He is meant to resemble Sparda. Sparda wore purple, Nero wears blue and red, which make purple. He loves a priestess just like Sparda did... it's basically the same story as that of Sparda.
Nero has the Devil Bringer arm, which is also red and blue. This leads me to believe the arm is Nero's own arm, NOT Vergil's, since Vergil's arm would only be blue, not red AND blue.
I don't think Vergil is 'inside Nero's arm', because how can a spirit be housed inside someone's arm?
Also, note that the spirit floating behind Nero seems to be Vergil, but isn't. If you look at Nero's full DT (my avatar), you'll notice that it looks exactly like the apparition (except for the blue color). But, it's actually quite likely Nero's DT is a fusion of Vergil's DT and his own.

2. He can't be Vergil's or Dante's son, since Dante is 29 in DMC4. This means Vergil would be 29 too. Since Nero is about 17 in DMC4, that would mean Vergil had sex with a human (which is doubtful) at the age of twelve (which is even less probable).
Another possibility is that Dante and Vergil are much older than 29; they are part demon after all. But I don't think this is the case, since Sparda remained in the human realm and fathered Dante and Vergil (in say 1975), and as far as I know, it's somewhere in the 2000s when Dante meets Nero.

3. He's had the blood of Sparda since birth. He's always had the white hair that the Sparda bloodline is renowned for. According to something I read, Nero's adoptive parents chose him because of his white hair, since it reminded them of their god, Sparda (the DMC novel is supposed to state this).

4. He may have been intended to be a half-demon like Dante and Vergil, since his concept art shows him sporting a full-body Devil Trigger (see my avatar, that's it). I read that only full demons and half-demons can have their own full Devil Trigger, so, since Capcom created full-body DT for Nero, that might mean that he's a half-demon, not a quarter demon like he should be if he's Vergil's son.

So the possibilities that we're left with are:
- Nero is a son of any relatives Sparda might have, and was left on the steps of the Fortuna Orphanage. This would make him a half-demon like Dante, though possibly less powerful.
- Sparda had a child with someone other than Eva. Probably not possible, since he died before Dante and Vergil were born. Besides, Sparda's a 'one girl' type of guy.
- Maybe he wasn't ''left on the steps of the orphanage'', (it sounds suspicious) but he was created by somebody, perhaps by an unknown scientist. It can't be Agnus, since he knew nothing about Nero's powers.
- He could be the reincarnation of Sparda, but with Sanctus blurting out that Nero ''carries the blood of Sparda'' and that he's a ''descendant of Sparda's blood'', this theory seems impossible.

It's told that Sparda was the feudal lord of Fortuna, so yeah, a lot of Sparda stuff going on.
Feel free to comment/point out flaws. Thanks!

I've been wondering about Nero's origins for a while now. The theories I've come up with are much akin to the ones that I've been reading for the past hour and a half. i.e. Nero is Vergil's son. He's Vergil/Sparda reincarnate (although admittedly, it never occurred to me that he could have been Sparda reborn.) I find the idea that Nero as a third son of Sparda to be...outlandish. But supposing that any of these three theories are correct then let's try to build the most likely scenarios around them.

Nero is Vergil's son: 1) As mentioned in DMC 2, there was a secret order that safeguarded one of the seals to the demon world. Though I have no other knowledge to draw upon other than the gameplay, it seemed fairly obvious that the order was on the border of being cultish, like the citizens of Fortuna. Now, going outside of the DMC universe, not all religious orders require their holy men/women to be celibate. Often this would prove true because an individual possessed some desirable trait(s) that the people of the order wanted their members to have. Going off from this tangent, it's safe to assume that during Vergil's travels, he had encountered the order that Lucia and Matier were a part of. Of course, Vergil would have been welcomed with open arms, and have a feast thrown in his honor. Eventually, women would make their advances on him, proposing things that are often done in private. Perhaps even using some intriguing information about Sparda as bait or in exchange. Considering Vergil's character in DMC 3, I have my doubts that he would be naive enough to lay with the first woman who blew in his ear. No, if anything, he met a woman who hated him. A woman, let's call her Lilith, who felt like he didn't live up to Sparda's reputation, and over a course of time, they grew close for a night. It's afterwards that stumps me. Did Lilith cast him out of her life or did he simply leave, afraid of being a father. Even more so, did he even know she was pregnant? At what point did she decide to leave her order to go to Fortuna?
2) This next conception theory takes place AFTER Vergil gets left behind in Hell. After a time spent in Hell, still being pursued by Mundus, Vergil finds a way to open a gate to the human world. Instead of resting or going to see his brother, he resumes his search for artifacts and information about his father. This search leads him to Fortuna. There, he meets (or quite possibly reunites with) an irascible acolyte of the Order of the Sword named, (and I only use the name for sake of its significant meaning) Lilith. Their first encounter is in a courtyard at Fortuna Castle, with Lilith making her way home and Vergil having just jumped from the impossible height of a window of the top floor. She takes him to be the intruder that the guards were searching for, but instead of calling for aid, she takes Vergil on, by herself. Vergil simply brushes her off, not even bothering to kill her, but that night isn't the last that they meet. Lilith decides to take it upon herself to track and terminate this demonic abomination. Eventually, she learns that Vergil is one of the sons of Sparda; the katana Yamato being her proof. She decides not to kill him, but she won't let him get away either. To the people of Fortuna, Vergil was a symbol of hope, she couldn't possibly let such a wonderful thing traipse around unwittingly and get himself killed. Vergil, of course, disagrees that she's capable of doing either, then promptly leaves Fortuna. Lilith pursues him, dogging him for several months to come back to Fortuna, until somehow, she's whittled down his patience and he's left with a choice: Kill her and be done with it, or do what she says. At first, he has a mind to choose the former, and is about to strangle her. But in the time it takes for him to raise his hand to her throat, he sees something in her defiant eyes. A fire, an intense conviction. Even in the face of certain death, she has the courage to stare down an obviously more powerful opponent. He's so moved by her that instead of a strangle, his hand turns into a caress. From there, that one, cold night turns into a burning romance. Of course, Mundus wouldn't have forgotten about Vergil just because he took a holiday. No doubt, the former demon king would still be looking for him, and when he catches wind that Vergil has a son...I think I'm justified in saying "All Hell would break loose." Looking back, Vergil realizes why his brother Dante was so obstinate about protecting the human world. Having found a similar reason, Vergil decides to go back to the demon world and finish Mundus for good, and in case he fails, he wanted Lilith to go back to Fortuna with their unborn son. Mundus wins, of course, and being unable to use Vergil's son as leverage, decides to suppress his memories instead and make him his minion. Years later, on the day that Dante fights and kills Nelo Angelo, Nero's arm changes. That voice that Nero hears, is his father's spirit, saying goodbye to the son he never knew.

Nero is Vergil/Sparda reincarnate: 1) Impossible...well, not entirely impossible. It is possible that Vergil's spirit couldn't crossover to the demon world when Dante killed him as Nelo Angelo, or more likely when he faced Mundus and his spirit couldn't stay in the demon world. So for some reason or another, Vergil's spirit settled into a woman's womb and supernaturally inseminated himself into her, thus being born as Nero.
2) The idea that Nero is Sparda reincarnate is much more easier to explain, and really can be left up to everyone's imagination as to why this happened. So this theory really needs no explanation.

Nero is the third son of Sparda: 1) I have it as my belief that devils don't really die the way humans do. When humans die, they can be anywhere, in their own world, in the demon world, or even in an alternate dimension, but when they die, they're gone for good. Devils on the other hand, when they die in any realm except their own, their current demon form dissipates, and they return to their realm of origin. Hell, in other words. So, when Sparda died in the human world, it's quite possible that he returned to the demon world, ALIVE, and was able to sire a third son. Whether in the demon world in the human world, that I'll leave for speculation. I'm still convinced that Nero is one quarter demon rather than half or more.

If this seems to be like a repost of somebody else's material, I do apologize. For all intents and purposes, I wrote my reply as a means to speak my mind. If you have any constructive criticisms, I'd like to hear them.

 

[V's patron]

Good theories even if timeline concerns tends to make some of them unvalid because Nero would have to be concieved before DMC3 if you want to match up with nero's suspected age of 17-20.

I would say Nero is Vergil's kid out of pragmatic reasons since Vergil would want the legacy of Sparda to continue even if he and Dante died as well as Nero's mom isnt baseline human and probably is a witch or another half-breed since he wouldn't want to repeat the mistake of his father and marry a human.

plus he rather his kid have more of a fighting chance than he and Dante so having a witch or another half-breed for a mom could give him a leg up that he and dante doesnt have.

 

[788Masri]

i think he;s Vergils son. it makes sense as it explains why he is linked to yamato and has spardas blood. i think it would also explain why Vergil does what he does in DMC3.

lets say about a year before DMC3 Vergil has a girlfriend/wife and a newborn child. then one day demons attack destroying the house and killing his wife. nero (the son ) survives thanks to his powers. however order agents investigating arrive first and take him before vergil arrives. so he gets there and finds he;s lost what he loves most. for the second time. his father could hold onto what he loved but he couldnt. why? because his father was powerful. that connection was made then. without power he could never be happy. so he went on his mission to gain his fathers power. leading to DMC3.

 

[gaiusofdante1991]

i think he's Vergils son. it makes sense as it explains why he is linked to yamato and has spardas blood. i think it would also explain why Vergil does what he does in DMC3.

That's why I like the theory. It's never set in stone just how old the Vergil or Dante are, or how fast they age, throughout the entire series. For all we know, they're both a thousand years old. Though to be more accurate, they're probably more like fifty. It's ineffable. The best we have to go by is Lady's apparent age from the time of DMC 3 to DMC 4. Of course this is just a guess, but I think she might have been 14 or so in DMC 3 and either pushing or past 30 in DMC 4.

 

[Lionheart]

''I've been ... half or more.''

If this seems to be like a repost of somebody else's material, I do apologize. For all intents and purposes, I wrote my reply as a means to speak my mind. If you have any constructive criticisms, I'd like to hear them.

I'd rather stick to what we know to be true, not fan fiction. The supposed 'fact' that Nero is Vergil's son has never been confirmed. As far as I know, it was only one person who claimed that, maybe a member of Capcom, maybe not. So that's very vague.

Besides, Nero is seventeen in DMC4, and Dante is thirty, so that would mean Vergil had Nero when he was thirteen, as I have stated.

The Yamato issue, which someone else brought up, is explained in this manner:
Vergil's/Sparda's soul, (probably one half of Sparda's, the power-hungry half) is housed inside Yamato. It called out to Nero ''Power. Give me more power.'' This activated his Devil Trigger slightly when he was injured, resulting in the Devil Bringer arm. After a while, Nero was impaled with Yamato in Agnus's laboratory, leading to the awakening of his Devil Trigger, as it also happened when Dante was stabbed with the Rebellion (and presumably Vergil when he was wounded by the Yamato). Basically, when a family member is wounded by a weapon containing hereditary power (Dante by Sparda's weapon Rebellion, Vergil by Sparda's weapon Yamato) that person obtains the Devil Trigger.

Gauisofdante1991, Dante's and Nero's ages are stated. Nero is 17 in DMC4, Dante is around 30 in DMC4. Dante was 19 in DMC3, and 28 in DMC1: ''You're the man who lost a mother and brother to evil twenty years ago, the son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, Mr. Dante.'' Dante lost his mother when he was eight, so yes, he was 28 in DMC1.

To 788Masri: No offense, but Vergil's story didn't need explaining. Vergil was lost to Mundus when he was eight, when his mother Eva was killed. The DMC game plots don't really fit together, as in DMC1, Dante hadn't seen Vergil since they were both eight. Vergil was abducted and converted into Nero Angelo, Dante remained. In DMC3, however, they fight each other at the age of 19, which just doesn't fit.
Vergil lost his mother because he was too weak at the time (he was eight), and that's why he wanted to obtain power in DMC3 - to be able to protect someone/something, or simply to rule the underworld and earth, as I believe his goal was.

All of that is quite obvious. However, I must stress that the DMC games contain plotholes like no other. DMC4 is no exception. I think Nero was supposed to be something else at first, but they changed it, and now nothing makes sense anymore, which is why Capcom haven't said where Nero came from. They know they made mistakes, and that they should start over with the story.

 

[gaiusofdante1991]

You're really taking this personally. Well, cool down a little, I have to point out a fault you overlooked. In DMC 4, when Nero resurrects Yamato, it doesn't impale him like Rebellion impales Dante in DMC 3. His eyes glow red, a blue aura surrounds him, Yamato mends itself, and then flies into Nero's hand, his Devil Bringer. Another thing to note, Devil Arms bear the names of the demons they once were. To name a few examples, Nevan, Cereberus, Agni & Rudra, and Lucifer. The sword, Sparda, is the only sword that bears the Dark Knight's name, ergo Yamato is another demon turned into a devil arm. The last thing to note, Trish said, "...lost your mother and brother to evil..." Evil comes in many shapes and forms, it does not have to be Mundus who they were lost to. Granted, Vergil ended up as Mundus' servant, Nelo Angelo, but even if the continuity of the whole series is a askew, the fact remains that Vergil didn't fight Mundus until DMC 3. Plot holes or not, the entire reason forums sites like this one exist is for the fans to speculate and dream up every possible scenario. In other words, we're here to explain the unexplained.

 

[Lionheart]

You're really taking this personally. Well, cool down a little, I have to point out a fault you overlooked. In DMC 4, when Nero resurrects Yamato, it doesn't impale him like Rebellion impales Dante in DMC 3. His eyes glow red, a blue aura surrounds him, Yamato mends itself, and then flies into Nero's hand, his Devil Bringer. Another thing to note, Devil Arms bear the names of the demons they once were. To name a few examples, Nevan, Cereberus, Agni & Rudra, and Lucifer. The sword, Sparda, is the only sword that bears the Dark Knight's name, ergo Yamato is another demon turned into a devil arm. The last thing to note, Trish said, "...lost your mother and brother to evil..." Evil comes in many shapes and forms, it does not have to be Mundus who they were lost to. Granted, Vergil ended up as Mundus' servant, Nelo Angelo, but even if the continuity of the whole series is a askew, the fact remains that Vergil didn't fight Mundus until DMC 3. Plot holes or not, the entire reason forums sites like this one exist is for the fans to speculate and dream up every possible scenario. In other words, we're here to explain the unexplained.

Yes, you're right about that. Nero actually gets impaled by one of those Gladius enemies, as well as a Bianco Angelo, which supposedly are made out of parts of Nero Angelo, if I recall correctly. So he was still impaled by something that came from his family line. I'm not taking this personally, though. If I gave you that impression, I apologize.

Yamato having been a demon is something we don't know. As far as I know, Sparda created the Yamato and Rebellion himself, and then gave them to Dante and Vergil - Yamato containing Sparda's cool composed demon side, and Rebellion the emotional human side, corresponding with Dante (the more human one) and Vergil (the more demonic one). That's why Rebellion is called Rebellion; because Sparda rebelled against Mundus.

I remember that Eva was supposedly killed by demons. Of course, that doesn't mean Mundus was the one who ordered her killed, that's right.

That's your opinion. I like to stick to the facts to explain what is explicable. Some things can't be explained, and won't be explained by coming up with fan fiction. You'd like to think it was explained that way, but it really isn't, and it's a waste of time, in my opinion. No offense intended.

 

[Valcorn]

I don't think we need theories, if I remember well, Nero was "confirmed" to be Vergil's son.
Also I'm very interested in the source that says Dante to be 29 in DMC4, I don't remember such statement ever.
He also looks older than that.
But I think Nero really is 17 in the game, but again, no source so don't quote me.
We know for sure thought that Dante in DMC1 is 28-29 and DMC4 is "x" years after that.

 

[DanteDevil01]

Damn people are still arguing about this? I thought everyone gave up already, I know I did. I have hope that Devil May Cry goes back to its original owners and original story and make a game out of Nero's origins.

 

[sylvanas]

The best we have to go by is Lady's apparent age from the time of DMC 3 to DMC 4. Of course this is just a guess, but I think she might have been 14 or so in DMC 3 and either pushing or past 30 in DMC 4.

Late reply but lady doesn't look to be 14 in DMC 3.

 

[berto]

Late reply but lady doesn't look to be 14 in DMC 3.

I have a few teenager in my family, I agree. Lady looks old enought to vote.

 

[V's patron]

at this point, its whatever you want.

 

[Valcorn]

Well, it doesn't matter now since DMC5 won't be made as the series got a reboot.

 

[Sparda's rejected son]

Vergil is Nero's father. We have no idea how much time has pasted since DMC1 and the Anime. Dante is a half demon so his appearance doesn't change that much as he ages like normal human's do. Dante could be 50 in DMC4 and 100 in DMC2 for all we know. SO their is plenty of time for Vergil to have Nero and for Nero to grow up. Him being his son makes the most sense considering the odd theories fans have for him.

 

[Valcorn]

From what we know, Dante aged as fast as an ordinary human would do.

 

[Lionheart]

Vergil is Nero's father. We have no idea how much time has pasted since DMC1 and the Anime. Dante is a half demon so his appearance doesn't change that much as he ages like normal human's do. Dante could be 50 in DMC4 and 100 in DMC2 for all we know. SO their is plenty of time for Vergil to have Nero and for Nero to grow up. Him being his son makes the most sense considering the odd theories fans have for him.

It has never been proven that Nero is Vergil's son, and it is actually very unlikely, for reasons I've stated in some previous posts in this thread. The only source that says Nero might be Vergil's son is the DMC4 novel, I believe, in which that was Sanctus's theory, nothing more. It was never stated that demons' appearances don't change as much over time as that of humans, so I don't know where you got that from, and it can only be considered fan fiction.

Dante was 19 in DMC3, as was clearly stated - even in the DMC3 manual, I think. In DMC1, Trish says something like ''You're the one who lost a mother and brother to evil twenty years ago, son of the Legendary Dark Knight, Mr Dante''. Since Dante's mother, Eva, was killed when he was eight, that means he's 28 in DMC1. As you know, DMC1 is set after DMC3 and before DMC4 and DMC2. Lady and Dante are of the same age, so Lady is also 19 in DMC3 and about thirty in DMC4.

Timeline:
DMC3 - Dante is 19
DMC1 - Dante is 28
DMC4 - Dante is 29, as the game is set, according to the developers, ten years after DMC3. Nero is around 17 to 20, and I think I read he was 19 in DMC4 (or 17).
DMC2 - Dante's age is unknown, but who cares about DMC2 anyway? The creator of DMC considers it not part of the DMC series. If I were to guess how old he is in DMC2 according to his appearance, it would be anywhere from thirty to forty.

If Vergil were in DMC4, he would have been thirty as well, and Nero was 19, so 30 - 19 = 11. Vergil would have had a child at the age of eleven, and why? He hates humans, and I think he'd rather have a child with another devil.

 

[Lionheart]

I don't think we need theories, if I remember well, Nero was "confirmed" to be Vergil's son.
Also I'm very interested in the source that says Dante to be 29 in DMC4, I don't remember such statement ever.
He also looks older than that.
But I think Nero really is 17 in the game, but again, no source so don't quote me.
We know for sure thought that Dante in DMC1 is 28-29 and DMC4 is "x" years after that.

It was not confirmed, though there was 'an employee of Capcom' who supposedly confirmed it, which isn't very believable to me.

As I wrote in my last post, DMC4 is set ten years after DMC3, according to the developers. Dante was 19 in DMC3, so he's 29 in DMC4. Dante was 28 in DMC1, as Trish said Dante lost his mother and brother to evil twenty years ago, when Dante was eight. Dante's age in DMC2 is, as far as I can remember, unknown, but he seems in his thirties to me.

 

[meg5493]

maybe vergil's spirit posseses Nero's Devil bringer can't believe that vergil would have a kid and it would make alot more since too

 

[Lionheart]

maybe vergil's spirit posseses Nero's Devil bringer can't believe that vergil would have a kid and it would make alot more since too

Well, I myself had come to a (sort of) conclusion that Nero may have been created by somebody by combining Dante and Vergil's blood. That's probably not possible in the real world, but hey, it's a game, so who knows?

I believe Nero's arm (the Devil Bringer) is his own arm, as it's blue and red, like the rest of Nero's appearance. So it's basically a partial Devil Trigger. Nero happened to get Vergil's Devil Trigger because the Yamato was nearby when he first went into Devil Trigger. Yamato contains part of Vergil's soul, or perhaps part of Sparda's, since Nero heard Yamato call out to him: ''Power. Give me more power!''