Dante's Stalker
"Outrun this!"
I debated about where to put this, but since Nero is going to be mentioned I figured DMC4 board would be most suited.
So, this is the old discussion about why Vergil had gone on his mission to gain Sparda's power. I know a lot of people say that 1 - he wanted more power to protect his loved ones, and 2 - that the loss of his mother was his motivation for obtaining power.
Here I come with my fiery poker to burn that theory down.
1. Why would he go out of his way for power to protect his loved ones if the only family he has left is Dante? Nobody has ever really explored this idea and everyone seems happy to settle for half-hearted answers.
He activated Dante's DT, which Dante probably was completely unaware of existed up to that point, because he knew it would aid in making Dante near indestructible and enable him to protect himself. So, with that done and dusted, he still continued on with his plan to get more power. Why? Most fans seem to be in agreement that Vergil had merely become misguided and corrupt, that he was a good guy with good intentions but his ruthlessness at living up to his aspirations made him the 'bad' guy.
Another idea that sprouts from Vergil's obsession to become more powerful is because he wants to follow in Sparda's footsteps. But why would he want that? Family tradition for the eldest son to step in his father's shoes? Not a chance. Both boys are quite indifferent to Sparda as their father-figure, which makes 'family tradition' a very lame reason with no substance.
2. Again, this rings true to me but it hasn't been deliberated on. Of course losing his mother would be enough motivation, but exactly what was his goal to obtain that power? He can't protect her, she's already dead. He can't bring her back to life, either. Yet this idea always goes in hand with the first theory. Vergil wanted more power. What motivated him? His mother's death. Why did he want it? To protect his loved ones.
First off, my explanation for getting to the theory that I have is that in every game a certain quality of Sparda is made prominent in the 'important' characters, and because of that in a way history repeats itself.
In DMC1, Dante had to face basically losing his family all over again and then still have the strength to finish off Mundus. Who's to say that Sparda wasn't on his way to stop Mundus from hurting his family when the attack on his family actually took place? I'm pretty sure Sparda wasn't dead up until that event took place, and he had to have had good reason not to be there for his family when they needed him most. Anyway, point: Dante was emotionally tormented and had to fight off Mundus. Sparda had to do the same when he sealed away Mundus, and if he had the heart to love a human being, and still acknowledged his true origins, it couldn't have been that easy for him to betray his own kind.
Okay, DMC2 - Dante had to go to hell to finish off the bad guy. Plenty of references made about him saving the world and being like Sparda, so that in itself speaks for itself.
DMC3 - Vergil sets out to follow his aspirations, which is to become like Sparda.
DMC4 - Nero and Kyrie - love, mushy fluffiness, demon + mortal = :wub: You get the idea.
So, here's my theory about Vergil. And yes, you may hate me for it, but flame Capcom because I'm confident that I've either got the plot figured out or I'm pretty damn close to the real thing. And plotting is my expertise, so don't discredit me just because you don't like what I've come up with, cos all I've done is picked up the threads Capcom left floating around and tied them all up.
Vergil's motivation to become like Sparda was not to physically follow in his father's steps, and his hunger and need for more power wasn't because he'd been manipulated by the demonic forces and adopted their ways. If that was the case, he wouldn't have lived in a mansion or bothered with grooming himself, and he wouldn't have waited as long as he had before making his move. If his motivation was to avenge his mother's death he'd have been plotting his revenge from the moment he had his awakening as a child, and not once is it insinuated throughout the game, novels, or manga, that revenge was his motivation.
His drive to obtain Sparda's power and become like Sparda was because he wanted to protect his loved ones - seeing as Dante is excluded from 'loved' ones and the rest of his family is dead, it could only mean that Vergil was in the same pickle as Sparda had been. And let's face it, the boys live what they learn. As example (Zany and I chatted about this before) the second fight between Dante and Nero in DMC4 was basically a copy of the fight between Dante and Vergil. The only difference is that Dante had been there, done that, got the wound to prove it, and knew Nero's next move which is why he was able to dodge it and catch Rebellion, whereas when Dante was faced with that situation the first time, Vergil had run him through with Yamato.
Considering this, there is no reason why Vergil wouldn't have known what needed to be done when he found himself facing a similar situation as Sparda once had. Instead of waiting for his enemy to make the first move and abandoning his loved ones to go fend off Mundus, Vergil took initiative to prepare himself so that when his turn came, he would be there and be fully capable of protecting his loved ones. And yeah, I'm going there, his 'loved ones' was most likely Nero and Nero's mother. The girl ought to have been pregnant during the events of DMC3, or seeing as Vergil started working on his plan a year before, she might have given birth the same year as DMC3. To work it into canon. I still think they made a major screw up with the ages in DMC4, but that aside, the puzzle pieces fit.
As for why Nero was orphaned - it could be a number of reasons. His mother might have been killed, the Order could have kidnapped him, or, the theory I'm running with as the most plausible, she gave him up for adoption when Vergil didn't come back. Vergil was young and she had to be quite young as well, and what girl that young can really be brave enough to raise a baby all by herself? If you add the option that she might have been aware of who and what Vergil was, it would have doubled her fear and given her even more reason to give Nero away. If you go on the assumption that the Order has existed for a good long time, it might have been Vergil's backup plan that she go to Fortuna because the citizens were well protected by the Knights and it wouldn't seem suspicious if a sudden demon attack was launched upon the city (to target her and Nero) because the Order was accustomed to and efficient at fending off demon attacks.
That's all up for debate, but my point is that taking everything we know about Nero and don't know about Nero, and everything we know about Vergil and don't know about Vergil, and you tie up the lose ends on both sides including all the hints, and you take a look at the bigger picture, the only thing that DOES make sense is that Vergil is Nero's father.
Now that I've got that out of my system. Feel free to bring your own pokers ^_^
So, this is the old discussion about why Vergil had gone on his mission to gain Sparda's power. I know a lot of people say that 1 - he wanted more power to protect his loved ones, and 2 - that the loss of his mother was his motivation for obtaining power.
Here I come with my fiery poker to burn that theory down.
1. Why would he go out of his way for power to protect his loved ones if the only family he has left is Dante? Nobody has ever really explored this idea and everyone seems happy to settle for half-hearted answers.
He activated Dante's DT, which Dante probably was completely unaware of existed up to that point, because he knew it would aid in making Dante near indestructible and enable him to protect himself. So, with that done and dusted, he still continued on with his plan to get more power. Why? Most fans seem to be in agreement that Vergil had merely become misguided and corrupt, that he was a good guy with good intentions but his ruthlessness at living up to his aspirations made him the 'bad' guy.
Another idea that sprouts from Vergil's obsession to become more powerful is because he wants to follow in Sparda's footsteps. But why would he want that? Family tradition for the eldest son to step in his father's shoes? Not a chance. Both boys are quite indifferent to Sparda as their father-figure, which makes 'family tradition' a very lame reason with no substance.
2. Again, this rings true to me but it hasn't been deliberated on. Of course losing his mother would be enough motivation, but exactly what was his goal to obtain that power? He can't protect her, she's already dead. He can't bring her back to life, either. Yet this idea always goes in hand with the first theory. Vergil wanted more power. What motivated him? His mother's death. Why did he want it? To protect his loved ones.
First off, my explanation for getting to the theory that I have is that in every game a certain quality of Sparda is made prominent in the 'important' characters, and because of that in a way history repeats itself.
In DMC1, Dante had to face basically losing his family all over again and then still have the strength to finish off Mundus. Who's to say that Sparda wasn't on his way to stop Mundus from hurting his family when the attack on his family actually took place? I'm pretty sure Sparda wasn't dead up until that event took place, and he had to have had good reason not to be there for his family when they needed him most. Anyway, point: Dante was emotionally tormented and had to fight off Mundus. Sparda had to do the same when he sealed away Mundus, and if he had the heart to love a human being, and still acknowledged his true origins, it couldn't have been that easy for him to betray his own kind.
Okay, DMC2 - Dante had to go to hell to finish off the bad guy. Plenty of references made about him saving the world and being like Sparda, so that in itself speaks for itself.
DMC3 - Vergil sets out to follow his aspirations, which is to become like Sparda.
DMC4 - Nero and Kyrie - love, mushy fluffiness, demon + mortal = :wub: You get the idea.
So, here's my theory about Vergil. And yes, you may hate me for it, but flame Capcom because I'm confident that I've either got the plot figured out or I'm pretty damn close to the real thing. And plotting is my expertise, so don't discredit me just because you don't like what I've come up with, cos all I've done is picked up the threads Capcom left floating around and tied them all up.
Vergil's motivation to become like Sparda was not to physically follow in his father's steps, and his hunger and need for more power wasn't because he'd been manipulated by the demonic forces and adopted their ways. If that was the case, he wouldn't have lived in a mansion or bothered with grooming himself, and he wouldn't have waited as long as he had before making his move. If his motivation was to avenge his mother's death he'd have been plotting his revenge from the moment he had his awakening as a child, and not once is it insinuated throughout the game, novels, or manga, that revenge was his motivation.
His drive to obtain Sparda's power and become like Sparda was because he wanted to protect his loved ones - seeing as Dante is excluded from 'loved' ones and the rest of his family is dead, it could only mean that Vergil was in the same pickle as Sparda had been. And let's face it, the boys live what they learn. As example (Zany and I chatted about this before) the second fight between Dante and Nero in DMC4 was basically a copy of the fight between Dante and Vergil. The only difference is that Dante had been there, done that, got the wound to prove it, and knew Nero's next move which is why he was able to dodge it and catch Rebellion, whereas when Dante was faced with that situation the first time, Vergil had run him through with Yamato.
Considering this, there is no reason why Vergil wouldn't have known what needed to be done when he found himself facing a similar situation as Sparda once had. Instead of waiting for his enemy to make the first move and abandoning his loved ones to go fend off Mundus, Vergil took initiative to prepare himself so that when his turn came, he would be there and be fully capable of protecting his loved ones. And yeah, I'm going there, his 'loved ones' was most likely Nero and Nero's mother. The girl ought to have been pregnant during the events of DMC3, or seeing as Vergil started working on his plan a year before, she might have given birth the same year as DMC3. To work it into canon. I still think they made a major screw up with the ages in DMC4, but that aside, the puzzle pieces fit.
As for why Nero was orphaned - it could be a number of reasons. His mother might have been killed, the Order could have kidnapped him, or, the theory I'm running with as the most plausible, she gave him up for adoption when Vergil didn't come back. Vergil was young and she had to be quite young as well, and what girl that young can really be brave enough to raise a baby all by herself? If you add the option that she might have been aware of who and what Vergil was, it would have doubled her fear and given her even more reason to give Nero away. If you go on the assumption that the Order has existed for a good long time, it might have been Vergil's backup plan that she go to Fortuna because the citizens were well protected by the Knights and it wouldn't seem suspicious if a sudden demon attack was launched upon the city (to target her and Nero) because the Order was accustomed to and efficient at fending off demon attacks.
That's all up for debate, but my point is that taking everything we know about Nero and don't know about Nero, and everything we know about Vergil and don't know about Vergil, and you tie up the lose ends on both sides including all the hints, and you take a look at the bigger picture, the only thing that DOES make sense is that Vergil is Nero's father.
Now that I've got that out of my system. Feel free to bring your own pokers ^_^
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