Nero (Devil May Cry)

Nero is a demon-human hybrid with the blood of Sparda and the main protagonist of Devil May Cry 4. He is portrayed and voiced by his motion capture artist, Johnny Yong Bosch.

Before DMC4
Little is known about Nero's past, except that he was an orphan in Fortuna and was taken in by Kyrie and Credo, who he grew up with. Nero later became a member of the Holy Knights, performing "special missions" for the Order of the Sword. Because of his lone wolf attitude, the Order had Nero work solo. He and Kyrie later developed romantic feelings for each other.

Shortly before the events of Devil May Cry 4, a group of demons emerged form Mitis Forest to attack the city. But luckily, Nero was present and managed to take them all out. Kyrie, who was with him at the time, received a minor injury, while Nero's shoulder was hurt and his sword, Red Queen, was damaged and sent in for repairs.

Hunting Dante
Nero was almost late for a singing performance by Kyrie after he had to deal with a group of demons, but arrived in time. He left a necklace as a gift for her and prepared to leave, not wanting to have to listen to another of Sanctus' sermons. However a man in red (Dante) burst in through the window on the ceiling and shot Sanctus in the face, but before he could confirm the kill, Credo and a group of Holy Knights attempted to subdue him. But Dante easily killed them and Kyrie, who Nero was attempting to get to safety, broke out of his grasp upon seeing that Credo was about to be killed by Dante.

Nero quickly delivered a two-legged kick to the half-demon's face to get his attention and the two battled, while Credo went to get reinforcements. At first Nero fought only with his hand gun, Blue Rose, but then took up a sword from a fallen Holy Knight. Finally during the fight, his right arm revealed itself as the Devil Bringer, giving him a new edge in the battle.

Eventually Nero succeeded in knocking Dante against a statue of Sparda and impaled him there with his sword, Rebellion. However the half-demon yanked himself free and Nero stated that Dante wasn't a human, but he said that they were the same, pulling Rebellion out of his body. He pointed out the knights he had slain and Nero saw they were demons, confusing him while Dante made his escape, just as the reinforcements arrived. Shortly afterwards, Kyrie gave Nero his modified sword, Red Queen, on Credo's request, who ordered him to hunt down Dante. He stated witnesses had seen the half-demon heading to Fortuna Castle, but suddenly the three of them felt a tremor.

Upon heading outside, they found the citizens under attack by demons and while Credo and Kyrie escorted the citizens to safety, Nero fought off the demons. He then began hunting for Dante and as he headed through the city, he found demons had completely overrun Fortuna. Soon enough, Nero found a Hell Gate outside Fortuna in a small village and battled its guardian, Berial the Conqueror of the Fire Hell. After defeating him, he headed to Fortuna Castle where he met a new member of the Order, Gloria, and upon journeying into the castle, he found a second Hell Gate guarded by the icy toad demon, Bael.

Eventually he found the lab of Agnus, chief alchemist of the Order, who revealed he had been using his research to create the Hell Gates to summon demons and that Sanctus wanted to use demon power to rule the world. Nero was almost killed by Agnus with help from his Bianco Angelos, but this unleashed Nero's Devil Trigger, at the same time reforging the shattered sword, Yamato, which was in the lab at the time.

Turning against the Order
Nero headed for the Order's headquarters to find out more about what was going on from Credo and crossed a bridge that lead into a cave behind a waterfall. He found himself in a forest and had a brief encounter with Dante, who left by falling off a cliff. Nero fought his way through the forest and eventually confronted the demoness, Echidna, who thought of the forest as her children, succeeding in driving her back into the third Hell Gate. Nero then went to the Order's headquarters where he met up with Credo and demanded to know who Dante really was, but Credo told him not to ask any questions.

He then transformed into his demon form, Credo Angelo, and declared that Nero was under arrest. The two battled and Nero won, but Kyrie arrived on the scene, seeing his demonic arm and thought that he was trying to kill Credo, who had changed to his human form. Agnus arrived and took advantage of Kyrie's surprise and fear, kidnapping her and revealed that Sanctus wanted her to get to Nero.

Credo was furious at these actions and after Agnus flew off with his sister, put aside his fight with Nero for the time being. Nero managed to head into the headquarters and found Agnus, who he fought and defeated, but failed to rescue Kyrie, who was taken away by Sanctus in the form of an Alto Angelo. He continued to pursue her, but ran into Dante, who wanted to take Yamato from him, but Nero refused and the two fought again. However this time, Nero lost, realizing Dante had been playing with him the whole time, but the half-demon didn't kill him and let him keep Yamato, because he needed it to save Kyrie.

Nero left after telling Dante his name and found Sanctus with an enormous statue like demon he created called the Savior. Sanctus wanted him to willingly be absorbed into the Savior and showed him that Kyrie was already within it to try and get him to do so. Nero refused and tried to rescue his love from the Savior, but Sanctus managed to use Kyrie to trap Nero, taking Yamato from him. Credo appeared and attacked his former leader in anger at the way he used Kyrie, but was stabbed through the chest for his efforts. As he fell, Dante caught his body and he and Trish watched as Nero was absorbed into the Savior, awakening it. As it flew towards Fortuna, Credo used his last breath to beg Dante and Trish to save Nero and Kyrie.

Defeating Sanctus
Later, Dante, having retrieved Yamato and destroyed all the Hell Gates, faced off against the Savior and succeeded in driving the blade into its chest. It found its way to Nero, awakening him and allowing him to escape the heart, he was trapped in. After fighting his way through the Savior's body, he found his way to the Sacred Heart where Kyrie was located, along with Sanctus in his true demon form, Sanctus Diabolica. Sanctus asked Nero why he had betrayed the Order and he said that Sanctus had done enough cruel deeds to earn him Nero's hate. The two engaged in a final battle and as he was on the verge of defeat, Sanctus asked Sparda to lend him power. When this call went unanswered, he angrily cried out, demanding to know why the demon knight would not give him the power to defeat Nero. Nero explained to Sanctus that while Sparda was a demon, he still had a heart and was capable of loving another, which was something Sanctus lacked, who only had a desire for power. Nero then finished off Sanctus and escaped the Savior with Kyrie and the sword, Sparda, which Sanctus had used to control the Savior.

However things weren't finished yet as the Savior fused with Sanctus' remains to become the False Savior, a much weaker form. Nero handed the Sparda to Dante and finished off the False Savior, crushing its head with the Devil Bringer. Nero then came to accept his demon side and that though he had demon powers, he was not evil. He exchanged thanks with Dante and offered to give Yamato back to him, but the half-demon told him to keep it. Nero asked Dante if they'd meet again, but he only waved vaguely in response as he walked away. He then met up with Kyrie, who told him she was happy it was all over and they almost kissed, but they were interrupted by a horde of demons that Nero took on, while Kyrie waited for him.

Personality
In contrast with Dante's laid-back and occasionally flirtatious attitude, Nero is a serious, cynical, distant, sardonic and somewhat anti-social person. He is a choleric character, prone to mood swings, and has been seen to both cry and become very angry multiple times during the events of Devil May Cry 4.

He is also very rebellious, much like Dante and Sparda before him: he wields guns, despite the Order's general prohibition against them; he doesn't really believe in the Order's religion; and cares little for the legend of Sparda. Despite this, he is also very loyal to his friends, especially to Kyrie and Credo. Even though he doesn't care for the Order of the Sword's religion, Nero still participates in some of their activities out of respect for Credo and Kyrie. However, his rebellious nature leads to the Order having him work alone on "special jobs." In fact, Nero actually prefers to act as a lone wolf.

Like Dante, Nero is a somewhat arrogant and cocky person. He shares Dante's habit of casually mouthing off to even the most powerful of his enemies, making taunts and sarcastic jokes on the battlefield. Nero also taunts in a similar, sarcastic fashion to Dante: One taunt involves him bowing mockingly and asking, "Shall we dance?"; another has him aiming the Blue Rose at his enemies and saying "Bang!" instead of shooting; and still another has him applaud his enemies.

When he first received the Devil Bringer, he considered it a curse, and covered it with a medical sling to hide it out of shame. However, over time he began to train with the Devil Bringer but doesn't fully accept it's existence until the end of Devil May Cry 4.

Nero is one of the few characters in the Devil May Cry series to actually swear and showcased offensive and crude behavior to others. Such instances includes: He calls Agnus a "jackass" and his laboratory a "hellhole". He also almost calls Agnus a "son of bitch" later, but is cut short. Before fighting Dante, he tells him "Kid? Well, if that's how you see me I think you'll blush a pretty pink when I kick your ass." Later on, he tells Sanctus "Go blow yourself" and could say "I'm not interested in your bullshit!" when using a Buster in the first battle with the vicar. Lastly, he gives Dante the middle finger before being absorbed by The Savior.

Powers

 * Supernatural Powers: Nero has similar powers to Dante & Vergil. It has even been stated to have some sort of genetic connection to Sparda himself.
 * Supernatural Strength: Nero has virtually incalculable strength, due to his demonic heritage. He has overpowered beings who ate five times bigger than him using only his human hand. He was even able to block an attack from Berial using only his human hand, holding the Red Queen Sword.
 * Demonic Arm: His Demonic arm has virtually limitless strength, as it was even able to destroy the savior & kill a powerful demon such as Bael with only a punch. While powered by Yamato, his strength has increased. Nero can also use Yamato to unleash energy slashes and stores the sword in Devil Bringer when not using it.
 * Supernatural Speed: His super speed has been seen when he is combating Dante & when he killed Sanctus. His speed gives off the illusion that he is teleporting.
 * Supernatural Reflexes: His reflexes are also similarly enhanced as well.
 * Supernatural Stamina: Even after temporarily dying & taking a lot of punishment, he only showed slight signs of tardiness.
 * Supernatural Durability: While not resilient to gunfire & bladed weaponry, his physical constitution can withstand high levels of physical trauma.
 * Regenerative Healing Factor: His supernatural healing abilities are so developed that they are able to instantly heal the damage done to his physiology. They have also rendered him immune to age & illness. While being powered by Yamato, his healing breaks through its limits as well & is even capable of resurrecting him from death. An example would be when he was stabbed through the chest with a Gladius by Agnus, but when he got to his feet, he showed no damage from this.
 * Nigh-Immortality: They have also rendered him immune to age & illness. His self-healing is even capable of resurrecting him from death, as long as more than half of his body remains intact.
 * Supernatural Senses: He is able to sense oncoming attacks from miles away. He was even able to sense the presence of Bael hiding in the storms.
 * Combatant: He has shown great amount of martial arts skills, muscle control, swordsmanship & marksmanship. Nero's weapons include a double barreled revolver called Blue Rose, a sword called Red Queen, which has a motorcycle like gear shift that he can use to make it emit a flame like propellant along the blade, and Yamato, a powerful Devil Arm katana that possesses tremendous power and he normally only utilizes it when he activates his Devil Trigger. Nero's weapons include a double barreled revolver called Blue Rose, a sword called Red Queen, which has a motorcycle like gear shift that he can use to make it emit a flame like propellant along the blade, and Yamato, a powerful Devil Arm katana that possesses tremendous power and he normally only utilizes it when he activates his Devil Trigger. Nero can also use Yamato to unleash energy slashes and stores the sword in Devil Bringer when not using it.
 * Yamato Empowerment: Nero can activate his Devil Trigger to fully unleash his demonic powers due to his demon blood, which causes a large blue phantom like being to appear around him that follows his movements and can unleash powerful slashes in combination with Red Queen. His strength becomes far stronger than his normal super-enhanced conditioning.



Trivia

 * Nero's name is the Italian word for black, similar to how Nelo Angelo's name is a play on the Italian words for black angel. The phantom being that appears around him resembles Nelo Angelo and in combat, he sometimes shouts "Blast!" and "Begone!", which Vergil sometimes shouts in boss battles in Devil May Cry 3.


 * Nero's voice actor and motion capture artist was Johnny Yong Bosch, who is also known for playing Adam Park, the Black Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger, the Green Zeo Ranger, and the Green Turbo Ranger from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, and Power Rangers Turbo. Similarly, Vergil's voice actor and motion capture artist was Daniel Southworth, who played Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger from Power Rangers Time Force. Bosch also voiced Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach and Renton Thurston from Eureka Seven, the love interests of Orihime Inoue and Eureka who were voiced by Kyrie's voice actor, Stephanie Sheh.


 * Nero's design underwent a lot of work, including some with white clothing and others that look similar to Vergil. In most, he was slimmer with a different eye color and he was also designed with a full Devil Trigger, but it changed to the more specter like one he had in the game.


 * La Vita Nuova, the name of the final scene between Nero and Kyrie, is named after a series of poems by Dante Alighieri about his love, Beatrice.


 * Early on, his Devil Bringer had a gold color instead of blue.


 * In the entire Devil May Cry series, Nero is the only playable character that wields his sword left-handed. Despite this, the specter that appears around him wields in Devil Trigger wields its sword right-handed, most likely because Nero absorbed Yamato into Devil Bringer, which is his right hand.


 * In the final battle with Sanctus, if the player defeats him with Devil Bringer, Nero shouts "Checkmate!" or "Jackpot!" but if they use Red Queen, he shouts, "Bingo!"


 * Like Dante and Vergil, Nero has held all the swords that Sparda wielded. He used Rebellion to pin Dante to a statue, wielded Yamato throughout the game, and took Sparda as he was escaping the dying Savior.


 * Nero is among the few characters in Devil May Cry to actually swear. He calls Agnus a "jackass" and his laboratory a "hellhole", tells Sanctus to "go and blow himself", might say, "I'm not interested in your bullshit!" in his first fight with Sanctus, and gave Dante the finger as he said "Come and get it (Yamato)!" as the Savior absorbed him.


 * Nero's Devil Trigger form is similar to the appearance of Yoh Asakura and his spiritual ally Amidamaru from the anime Shaman King as both characters' spirit allies were in the form of blade-wielding warriors; as well as the Mangekyo Sharingan-users' Susanoo from the anime and manga, Naruto..


 * Due to his young age, Dante, the other protagonist frequently calls him a kid.