That comeback to the spider demon made sense to me. He's a demon bounty hunter and Dante was telling him basically that if you pick a fight with me you're going to die and I hope I can make a little cash off you because of it. Not hard to get. I picked up that people actually bought goods made from demon similar to how people make money off on animals. That's what I liked about the DMC 1 Dante. I got the sense he was cocky but he was more subtle about it and was more chilled. In DMC 3 and 4 he was seriously just stupid. He thinks he's cooler than he really is and was just a dork in your face of how dorky he can be. When I was 19, I wasn't retarded. The stuff he said wasn't funny and was all just dumb. About the only thing I liked that he said in 3 was telling that giant dog demon how he's be good in a dog show and also channeled Bruce before the fight.
Never knew anything about the demon crafting for money. I mean I remember it being mentioned offhand occasionally in DMC4. Still, it could have been clearer to me. He just talks about hoping there's something solid in his body, I figured the spider was going to drop a trinket for me to advance and the game was being a little self-referencial. But then IIRC he drops nothing... and besides that, in a world of demons and magic, I didn't take that people needed something solid to craft demon weapons out of if they at least have some of it's body in some manner or another. Meh. Line is still crap IMO, though less than before.
I more or less agree with DMC3/4 Dantes, particularly 3. They overdosed him on "cool" in that game, though I see him progressing somewhat in his maturity with his confrontations with Lady. Still, I think DMC1 Dante's image was spiked by cheesy delivery and sometimes cheesy mannerisms. The DMC1 personality just doesn't hold up today, though I think we're all behind the desire for a Dante with a right mixture of corniness, seriousness, and genuine humor.
It's about time Devil May Cry gets some people who will write real jokes and actually witty punch lines for the character because Dante just being completely retarded isn't funny or charming. It's annoying and lame. If you're going to add intentional campyness then you need to execute it better. I adore Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness for that because they are very self aware and have a death grip on their camp and cheese making it completely freaking awesome for it. DMC sort of came of as a series that had half the people wanting to get serious and the other half wanting to stay cartoony and met each other half way. Capcom never knew what to do with the series and that's why you have such a shift in tones from the 1st DMC to 2 then 3.
Honestly it could have stayed DMC2 serious if they didn't have a witty enough writer with them. He didn't talk much in that game, but at least when he did, it did actually get a chuckle out of me, like when he met and beat Arius.
"King? Here's your crown." Simple statement, simple execution, but stupidly cool when he follows up by shooting the guy through the window like an action flick. If you can't do comedy, then simply DON'T DO IT, or at least keep it to a minimum of choice lines.
As for Vergil he was always just very weak and stupid to me. The DmC Vergil is better than that weirdo with a hard on for swords any day because he actually has more of a freaking personality. The dude was so one dimensional and boring that I don't get why he's so popular. And his outfit was stupid as hell. Looked like some weird pirate.
I did hate the boots, and the washboard-like shirt. The long coat though is always nice, along with the possibly too-long sword and super saiyan hairstyle. Did see a cool picture where Vergil wore that coat, with a somewhat business suit like attire. Was pretty baws IMO.
I think the fan's perception of these characters make them better to them than they actually are because they were all about as deep as a kiddie pool to begin with.
That and most of the information for his otherwise unknown motivations coming from outside of the games. Urgh. Frustrating. There's a lot of potential for Vergil in DMC3. but it's just never explored, and it seemed like half the time DMC3 was being cryptic for the sake of .. something, I dunno.