Phineas

[nightrunner_ks]

"You only see evil in me because I am a demon"

At this point in the story, Dante has an obvious inner confliction. Home Truths sparked his (re)vengeance against the demons

"I will never forget what they'd done to her"

But sharing his intimate secrets with Kat brought out something he never felt before...empathy, compassion, understanding. But then,

"Its all a matter of perspective"

The two missions, Eyeless and The Tower, revolve around Phineas challenging Dante. The fact that he made Dante get his eye shows his manipulative side. Phineas knows Dante wants revenge as soon as he meets him. That's why he takes him to the statue of Assiel. He wants Dante to succeed because of his own personal vendetta. But he wants Dante to learn a valuable lesson: humility. Dante in DMC3 learns this exact lesson through Lady, but wait!

"Kill the child!"

This is Phineas' test. He wants Dante to learn to control his power, his emotions, by telling him to do something in cold blood, and seeing if he follows through with it. He wants Dante to think objectively, put others before himself. But he has nothing to lose. If Dante learns nothing and kills the child, Dante basically becomes "hollow" like Vergil and kills Mundus in cold blood. But, if Dante has learned something, and spares the child, Dante kills him eventually by using cunning and intelligence instead of just violent, brute strength. Dante himself went through the torture of having his parents "killed." Would he put Mundus' child through the same thing?

"Like you they held great potential"

So when Phineas VA said "he might help you, he might kill ya," this is what he meant.

 

[seraphmaycry]

EDIT:

HAHA lol....

anyway i agree with you phineas does seem sorta suspicious..... phineas called Dante his master at some point apparently

he wanted dante to kill a child (it was a demon but still)

he manipulated dante when he clearly did not need the eye unless he has some sort of super hearing a extra hidden ear or some sort of sonar

wait..... phineas knew about mundus's child? HOW? WHY DOES HE WEAR A BATHROBE ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[nightrunner_ks]

Thanks for ruining my in depth analysis to show that DmC isn't a one dimensional game

 

[Loopy]

Phineas is supposed to be like a guide and teacher for Dante to mature and grow; you're right about that. I wish there had been more scenes with him in.

I wonder how he did know about Mundus' heir in the first place?

Also, when he tells Dante to kill the child, he warns about what could happen and how Mundus could kill a lot of people as payback. He also tells Dante that if Mundus is defeated, then who will take his place? Pretty good advice if you ask me.

Sure, Phineas wants revenge for being imprisoned, but not at the cost of humanity being killed. Like I said above, he warns what will happen if Dante gets revenge and kills the child.

And if you look in the subtitles text for the game, there were some extra senes with him in, along with Asiel speaking to Dante about his powers. That would have given some added depth to the scenes.

HOW? WHY DOES HE WEAR A BATHROBE

I thought it was meant to be like a long smoking jacket?

 

[LysseC]

Mh, I didn't read Phineas' suggestion of killing Munudus' child as a test for Dante's humanity. I always thought it was a simple direct advice. :ermm:

As for him warning Dante about who would take Mundus' place, for a moment I thought this line could be interpreted as a different kind of warning: as in, Phineas saying that, once Munuds is dead, there would be need of a new leader.
Now, this is probably not the right interpretation of Phineas' words, because this line is clearly connected with the overall "moral message" (maybe an overstatement, but bear with me) the story conveys: the fact that humanity should be free. This message is clear, because the story is structured for telling us that Dante is right in the end. We are "suggested" to take Dante's side in the moral debate between him and Vergil in the end. Vergil, in Mission 20, is clearly depicted as the "bad guy".
But, as it has been argued in other threads, this is a moral statement of preference. Vergil's ideas are not necessarily that bad.
Personally, I would have found very interesting and challenging if this moral message had been left more ambiguous. If, I mean, they did not convey this neat separation between Dante-Good and Vergil-Bad. In this way, Phineas' message too would have been more ambiguous. I would have personally liked him to be the ambiguous counsellor. But, yeah, my personal tastes.

 

[Sunaka Marién]

I never thought about these things in that way before :blink: Amazing job!
But, uh, I always had the impression that Dante didn't actually tell these things to Kat, he just remembered all he's been through and decides to simply tell her that he knew he wasn't crazy. The effect is still the same, though.

I wonder how he did know about Mundus' heir in the first place?

Didn't he say something about his eye aloowing him to 'see the truth'? Maybe he's like some sorta demonic fortune teller?

HOW? WHY DOES HE WEAR A BATHROBE ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Because they're comfy

 

[Loopy]

Didn't he say something about his eye aloowing him to 'see the truth'? Maybe he's like some sorta demonic fortune teller?
I thought it was his machanical eye that was the special one because of how he used it to fix the bridge? Or maybe both his eyes are magic in some way?

Or maybe before the harpies stole his eye, he planted his mechanical eye in Mundus' office like a spy camera.

 

[Sunaka Marién]

Yeah, I meant his mechanical eye. Maybe it is a device through which he can channel his demon magic which allows him to see things. You know, like how a fortune teller use a crystal ball or something.

Or maybe before the harpies stole his eye, he planted his mechanical eye in Mundus' office like a spy camera.

For his own sake I hope he didn't

 

[Loopy]

Yeah, I meant his mechanical eye. Maybe it is a device through which he can channel his demon magic which allows him to see things. You know, like how a fortune teller use a crystal ball or something. Yeah that kind of idea! Maybe it is like a crystal ball and sees the future or can look into other parts of the world.

For his own sake I hope he didn't

Me too. He'd be traumatised for life and need to see a therapist.

 

[Sunaka Marién]

Me too. He'd be traumatised for life and need to see a therapist.

Keheh, yeah, poor old Phineas, he's already been through so much, we wouldn't want that kinda thing to happen to him :'(

 

[Loopy]

Keheh, yeah, poor old Phineas, he's already been through so much, we wouldn't want that kinda thing to happen to him :'(

How did Phineas end up in pirson anyway? Did he say something Mundus did not like? Or did he help Sparda and Eva?

 

[Sunaka Marién]

How did Phineas end up in pirson anyway? Did he say something Mundus did not like? Or did he help Sparda and Eva?

Hm, he *seems* to have been friends with them, so I guess when Mundus felt Sparda had betrayed him, he just started to hunt down all of their fiends and supporters aswell. When we take the deleted dialouge into account, when he was talking about the legend of Sparda, it is possible that he might have aided him in trying to defeat Mundus, maybe with his truth seeing eye. Or maybe the eye was what got him locked up in the first place?

 

[Loopy]

Hm, he *seems* to have been friends with them, so I guess when Mundus felt Sparda had betrayed him, he just started to hunt down all of their fiends and supporters aswell. When we take the deleted dialouge into account, when he was talking about the legend of Sparda, it is possible that he might have aided him in trying to defeat Mundus, maybe with his truth seeing eye. Or maybe the eye was what got him locked up in the first place?

That would make sense. If Phineas knew Sparda and Eva, then that would be enough to make Mundus want to punish him. Plus, Phineas seems like the sort of character who doesn't believe in the war between angels and demons. He just doesn't seem like the fighting type. So it would make sense that he was friends with Sparda and Eva.
I'm surprised Mundus didn't do something worse to Phineas. Eva and Sparda were killed, but Phineas only gets sent to prison....seems like he got off easy.

 

[Sunaka Marién]

That would make sense. If Phineas knew Sparda and Eva, then that would be enough to make Mundus want to punish him. Plus, Phineas seems like the sort of character who doesn't believe in the war between angels and demons. He just doesn't seem like the fighting type. So it would make sense that he was friends with Sparda and Eva.
I'm surprised Mundus didn't do something worse to Phineas. Eva and Sparda were killed, but Phineas only gets sent to prison....seems like he got off easy.

Hm, it sure seems like a very light punishment. But then again we now very little about his character, so maybe being blinded and left alone is the worst you can do to him? And he also said that the harpys torment him all the time, so maybe it was worse then what was shown.
Not a fighting type? What about "Stay away from me or I'll cut off your head!" then :troll: Just kidding, I agree with you.

 

[Loopy]

Hm, it sure seems like a very light punishment. But then again we now very little about his character, so maybe being blinded and left alone is the worst you can do to him? And he also said that the harpys torment him all the time, so maybe it was worse then what was shown.
Not a fighting type? What about "Stay away from me or I'll cut off your head!" then :troll: Just kidding, I agree with you.

You're right. Being punished and bullied by harpies forever is worse than death. At least death is quick, and harpies are forever.
Phineas seems like a thinker to me. He knows about the nephilim that came before, he gives Dante advice, and his eye seems to give him a different way of thiking; plus he didn't want to fight Barbas, but he was really trying to hit the harpies with his stick.

 

[Sunaka Marién]

You're right. Being punished and bullied by harpies forever is worse than death. At least death is quick, and harpies are forever.
Phineas seems like a thinker to me. He knows about the nephilim that came before, he gives Dante advice, and his eye seems to give him a different way of thiking; plus he didn't want to fight Barbas, but he was really trying to hit the harpies with his stick.

"Harpies are Forever". Sounds like an intresting title
Hm, didn't he say he's a philosopher? Or did I just mishear that? ._.
D'aww, it was just so cute when he tried to fight off the harpies with his stick <3 Poor Phinie :<

 

[Loopy]

"Harpies are Forever". Sounds like an intresting title
Reminds me of this saying 'a dog is for life, not just for christmas present'. :lol:
Hm, didn't he say he's a philosopher? Or did I just mishear that? ._.I think I heard that too! But I can't remember where.
D'aww, it was just so cute when he tried to fight off the harpies with his stick <3 Poor Phinie :<

I felt so bad for him then. They were swarming him like demon bugs:'(

 

[Sunaka Marién]

I felt so bad for him then. They were swarming him like demon bugs:'(

Yeah! There's no way one would not want to help him there :'(

 

[Loopy]

Yeah! There's no way one would not want to help him there :'(

Make a Phineas rescue squad!:lol:
Got to say he was a really interesting character. If they make another DmC, I want him to be in it. He could explain a lot more of the history between angels and demons, and maybe more about Sparda and Eva, or maybe how Mundus became demon king.

 

[Sunaka Marién]

Make a Phineas rescue squad!:lol:
Got to say he was a really interesting character. If they make another DmC, I want him to be in it. He could explain a lot more of the history between angels and demons, and maybe more about Sparda and Eva, or maybe how Mundus became demon king.

This. So much this. I reall thought his role would have been bigger in DmC :ermm: It really is a pitty that they cut his already small amount of dialogue.