References to other games/media in Devil May Cry

[Foxtrot94]

Just a fun fact kind of thread, if you know any references to other games or other media in general within the Devil May Cry games, post it here!

I'm gonna start the party. I'm sure most of you guys know some of the moves in DMC4 are very similar to some Street Fighter ones. Pretty easy to see which ones but for those of you who don't know...



Dante's Real Impact -> Ryu's Metsu Shoryuken:

Dante's Rising Dragon/Divine Dragon -> Ken's Shoryuken:

Dante's Kick 13 -> Ken's Shinryuken, full animation, first part:

Dante's Gilgamesh Combo B, 3rd hit -> Chun Li's Lightning Legs:

Dante's Full House -> Cammy's Cannon Strike:

Vergil's Rising Dragon/Dragon Breaker -> Ken's Shoryureppa:

EDIT:
Doesn't display Metsu Shoryuken's gif correctly for some reason, put a video instead.

 

[berto]

That move on the Doppelganger fight scene where Dante taps his food with his hand front and back was somewhat common in kung fu movies at the time.

You know, after the Release of Devil May Cry there was a spike in stuff that was named Devil May Cry. There is a novel by writer Sherrilyn Kenyon, a rap album by a guy named Donnie Darko, a song by the Weeknd, and probably others.

 

[Steve]

While not a reference to other games, the weapons/moves 'Beowul' and 'Gilgamesh' are references to epic poems, both of which featuring a protagonist with superhuman strength. Those are really the only two I can remember right now. Either somebody at Capcom is a fan of world literature, or is pretty lucky with pulling random kewl words out of thin air.

 

[Viper]

While not a reference to other games, the weapons/moves 'Beowulf' and 'Gilgamesh' are references to epic poems, both of which featuring a protagonist with superhuman strength. Those are really the only two I can remember right now. Either somebody at Capcom is a fan of world literature, or is pretty lucky with pulling random kewl words out of thin air.

They seem to be a fan of all sorts of old stuff, while Beowulf is the name of epic poem and its hero, the DMC devil Beowulf looks very much like god Pazuzu, bearer of storms and drought, and protector of mankind from evil spirits despite being one himself (who in turn also inspired devil Pazuzu from Exorcist, which might be where they got him from for DMC, but it's not confirmed).

 

[Steve]

That is actually a genuinely fascinating finding, Viper. I went ahead and Image search'd the name and the likeness is uncanny. Beowulf is my all-time favourite DMC boss character and I wouldn't have connected the two in a million years - makes me want to blast through the game again and see if I can pick up anything of a tortured protector angle or something. Then again, I imagine if Sparda sealed him away it was for a pretty good reason.

 

[Lain]

the DMC devil Beowulf looks very much like god Pazuzu,

Huh, I had never considered that. I always thought that he was meant to (ironically) resemble Beowulf's enemy Grendel, especially since the prize for beating the demon is his arms and legs. (Well technically Vergil got it first after killing him but whatever)

But anyway, speaking of bosses in dmc3 - Geryon is another reference although he doesn't resemble the giant of Greek mythology nor the Monster of Fraud in Dante's Inferno. The only connection I can think of is that during his Tenth Labour, Heracles rode a golden chariot across the seas in order to reach Geryon.

 

[Viper]

Huh, I had never considered that. I always thought that he was meant to (ironically) resemble Beowulf's enemy Grendel, especially since the prize for beating the demon is his arms and legs. (Well technically Vergil got it first after killing him but whatever)

But anyway, speaking of bosses in dmc3 - Geryon is another reference although he doesn't resemble the giant of Greek mythology nor the Monster of Fraud in Dante's Inferno. The only connection I can think of is that during his Tenth Labour, Heracles rode a golden chariot across the seas in order to reach Geryon.

I hadn't really considered Pazuzu either, until another person pointed it out, and even then Beowulf doesn't really have Pazuzu's abilities either, the closest approximation would be that the powerful strike and light flashes can be taken as "lightning". DMC3 in general is a mishmash of ideas, for example, despite hundreds of descriptions, Cerberus is never associated with ice, and even shouldn't be as the ice level is on the very bottom of Hell, whereas Cerberus is in Third circle (and third mission of DMC3).
Only Gigapede makes sense, as it's just a huge centipede and common motif in Japanese horror, curses one places on people are associated with centipedes, as they can be particulary frightening and get in anywhere.

 

[Lain]

DMC3 in general is a mishmash of ideas,

Heh, true. We could talk about all the mythological references and how accurate they are in DMC until the cows come home. :tongue:

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't the first time (DmC) Dante get the demon pull ability he references Scorpion from Mortal Kombat by shouting "Get over here!" as he uses it?

 

[V's patron]

I think Pandora was based off the missile firing system from Maccross which was a popular mecha anime.

 

[Viper]

There is so much similarity between a Stand and Nero's ghostly apparition (and some between Jotaro and Nero), DMC4 might as well be renamed Nero's Bizarre Adventure.

 

[V's patron]

I think people make the comparison between Gloria and Lady Gaga/Nicki Minaj in term of fashion sense. I've seen some people fancast Rihanna as Lucia.

I think the hunter from DmC was based off the Nue which is a japanese creature similar to the chimera.

I think Jester's working name was the Joker but Langdon convinced them to change it. Plus his actual name was going to be Hyne but they decided on Arkham instead. In my spec script he's gonna be Hyne Arkham :wink:

 

[WolfOD64]

Dante's Gilgamesh Combo B, 3rd hit -> Chun Li's Lightning Legs:

Something worth noting is that Chun-Li's Lightning Legs are actually taken from the visual motif of Kenshiro's flurrying super-kick from the 1980's anime Hokuto No Ken (北斗の拳), or as it's known more colloquially in Western circles, Fist of the North Star.

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I wouldn't be surprised if that was the initial source for Dante's Beowulf and Gilgamesh animation, especially considering how many times it's turned up in the series in some form.

And that's not a blow against either Street Fighter or Devil May Cry. You have to understand how MASSIVELY popular Hokuto No Ken is in old-school anime circles. A good chunk of fighting games and Japanese properties pay homage to the series. There are a profound number of references to the series in Street Fighter alone. (Akuma, for instance, has the same catch-phrases, mannerisms, and even speaks the same dialect of Japanese as the lead villain of HNK, Raoh).

It's not even remotely surprising that Devil May Cry squeezed in a few references too.

One other 80's anime series that's left a noticeable impression on DMC is the classic mecha space-opera, Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Hideaki Itsuno stated in an interview for DMC4 that he was a fan of the mecha in that series, the titular Superdimension Fortress in particular. He expressed his intrigue with weapons and vehicles that could shift and transform into larger and radically-different forms, much like the Superdimension Fortress does.

SF-1 Macross (Prior to Transformation)

SF-1 Macross (After Transformation)

As such, he made Dante's weapon, Pandora, the focal point of that desire, with the large and absurd shape it can take with further transformations.

Pandora (Prior to Transformation)

Pandora (After Transformation

And speaking of Macross, one of its characters also appears in DMC4....Dante himself. Reuben Langdon stated that he modeled his performance of an older, more roguish Dante on the performance of legendary voica actor Akira Kamiya's when he portrayed ace pilot Roy Focker in Macross.

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This is actually a clever choice, since Dante and Roy play very similar roles and act very similar in their respective material. Roy plays the cheeky mentor of Macross protagonist Hikaru very much the same way Dante plays it to Nero, with both trying to come across as the seasoned experts on "all things macho", whilst ironically acting less mature than the people they're trying to extoll advice to.

Both come off more as an annoyance to their "pupils" most of the time, but remain superior in terms of combat, and most importantly, wisdom.