Lol, I've never considered Nero to be posh. He doesn't speak in a posh manner, and he doesn't necessarily look that way either, so I don't know where you got that idea from.
"This, I will saver."
"No time for a friendly banter."
Plus, the posness comes from the way he presents himself, the way he stands, and how he looks, and in my eyes it's like Justin Beiber trying to play James Dean.
And at least Nero didn't try to be incredibly tough like Dante in DMC3, he just was. And he was tough while keeping his own personality instead of turning into some sort of caricature like DMC3/DMC4 Dante.
In your eyes, but in mine he just seemed to be trying too hard to be another clone of Dante, then into a bit of a melo-dramatic child, and finally into Ichigo.
The fact that Nero tried to hard to be like Dante in most incounters with demons made him seem like he wasn't speaking his own words.
But you didn't say he was emulating Dante, you only said: ''It just came off as some pompous pretty boy wanting to be the rough and tough bad boy'', which is what Dante was like in the games, as well. Sure, he acts a bit Dante-like at times, but I do see the difference in personality. Nero is more sardonic and cynical, while Dante is playful and a poser.
True, but there's still a difference. DMC3 Dante at least stayed as an interesting action character through out the game, while Nero hit rock bottom in character near the end of DMC4.
I don't know, I quite like characters that don't look cool or overtly act cool. Characters that rely on having a believable personality and having wit. If their looks happen to contradict their behavior, that just makes it extra nice to me. It gives their behavior more of an impact due to the contrast, and makes their personality more important. And the examples you chose are not necessarily of Japanese vs western views; I've seen plenty of 'cool' characters in anime that look nothing like your examples.
Good for you, but that doesn't do it for me. I can't take a bad boy-like character seriously if he's not even fit to BE a bad boy. If anything, Nero should've just had Sora's personality from KH as the dapper hero of justice instead of trying so hard to be the too cool for school character.
To me, the 'listening to rock music while in church' thing doesn't really come across as him trying to be cool. I just saw it as a way for him to not have to listen to that Sparda worship blather. He didn't even seem to pay much attention to the music. The headphones might as well have been earplugs, but I don't see him randomly running around with earplugs - nobody does that. He was there to see Kyrie, nothing more.
Thus why he's late and then is like "I'm out of here". Why not just do that sooner? My point still stands that Nero's listening to music in church is just Capcom's way of thinking that's what makes kids so cool, when honestly it just seems like Nero's trying too hard.
I just don't like the delinquent characters being transformed into these glossy douchebags who THINK they're cool and rebellious. It just makes them look like posers in my eyes.
And I don't like characters that purposefully try to look cool or 'underground' or whatever. I hate western stereotypes. It just makes me think their personality must not be strong enough. You can act cool and try to look cool, but if you're like a juvenile moron like many western characters, that true identity will be obvious. I've always thought it's cooler to dress like an adult and perhaps of high standing, than it is to act like you're trying to recapture your youth or posing as 'rebellious trailer trash/underground meth addict'. There's nothing cool about being an unemployed a-hole.
