…in The Field, The Ground Warms As Blood Seeps Into The Dirt. (Nathaniel Orion G. K, "הבל | Hevel")

Odd couple on a date (Kamikaze Girls movie frame redraw)

dmc 4 yay

The major reason Dante and Vergil's rivalry works better than almost any other take on the trope is because the games are totally self aware about how dumb and immature the whole trope is and they lean way the hell into it. Like yeah, there's real stakes, turmoil and emotional wounds between them that drive their eternal conflict but at the same time it's pretty obvious that the real reason they fight all the time is because they're both just the biggest goddamn children on the planet.

It really is just playground bickering elevated to apocalyptic proportions by sheer virtue of them both being demigods.

guess whos returning to their old hyperfixation 🤓👈

My favorite thing about Dante and Vergil is just how they constantly match each other's energy. Like I know DMC5 is a lot more explicit about how Vergil is a silly lil guy underneath the veneer of seriousness, but I wanted to highlight a few of the Vergil lines/exchanges/moments from DMC3 that demonstrate... yeah he was kinda always like this

From right before the first Vergil fight in DMC3:

Dante: You sure know how to throw a party. No food, no drinks, and the only babe just left. Vergil: My sincerest apologies, brother. I was so eager to see you I couldn't concentrate on the preparations for the bash.

I find this one especially fun because pretty much every other boss you fight in DMC (like the entire series) just gets huffy and angry and yells about annihilating Sparda or something. Vergil is probably one of the few major bosses that snarks back

2. After Vergil gets Beowulf he does the Dante thing of playing around with his new weapon

3. From right before the second Vergil fight:

Dante: It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. More importantly, I've come all this way. I'm sure you have time for one more game… right Vergil: Why not? After all we share the same blood… I'll just use more of yours to undo daddy's little spell.

Something about "daddy's little spell" is just so irreverent and funny

4. From right after the second Vergil fight:

Vergil: It is time for the clown to bow out, Arkham. Dante: Dude, the show's over!

To me it comes off like Dante's spring-boarding off of Vergil's theater metaphor that with the "show's over!" line. Vergil set him up for that one

5. This bit at the start of the Arkham fight which Vergil was NOT present for:

Dante: Dude, my father wasn't so hideous. Can't you tell by looking at me? Anyway that shape suits you better. Let's begin the main event!

Followed by this exchange midway through the fight:

Dante: Look at you, making a big dramatic entrance and stealing my spotlight. Vergil: Well... You don't possibly believe that he deserves to be our main event now do you?

Vergil wasn't exactly present for Dante's "let's begin the main event!" line, which means he just came up with the same thing completely independently? That, or he was watching and just decided to wait for the most dramatic possible moment to jump in. Either way, it adds silly lil guy points (either for being just like his brother or for timing a dramatic entrance)

6. Same fight scene, the finger waggle Vergil does as he says "You should come to realize you cannot control the power of Sparda."

7. The classic:

But also the way Vergil immediately knows exactly what Dante is talking about when he says "Remember what we used to say?" and he smiles about it

Found this interesting little titbit on the Devil May Cry TV Tropes page. Effectively; Vergil was designed to be simped over.

My stylus is freezing up 🫠

Caim, Furiae, Inuart <3

Thought of something really cute and stupid where Dante and Vergil dress up as each other for Halloween. You have a smiling, laughing "Vergil" and a glaring, frowning "Dante", both of which freak everyone else out. The twins take sick delight out of this.