I feel like I just have to say this
It took a lot to play Devil May Cry 5 knowing ahead of time -but not having seen- what V’s fate would be. I remember sitting there saying “they wouldn’t to that to him. He’s just so wonderful. The will find a way.”
And then it happened and I was beyond words.
I finished the game and had to go take a nap. Then I went and replayed all his early chapters. I needed to see him when he wasn’t suffering so much because it wasn’t until the end of the game that I realized one of -if not- the most important things about the story. Despite the best intentions of everyone else in the entire game, there is there was one thing that was overlooked more than he was by the other characters in the game.
The game is called Devil May Cry V for a reason.
At the end of the day, V was the real hero of the story.
He was the one who helped Nero escape and stay out of trouble during the Epolouge.
He was the one who saw what Vergil had become and looked at him in horror, pain, and pity instead of anger and hate.
He was the one that stayed behind for a month and tried to save people, knowing that he was in no condition to try and help but felt personal grief and horror at the sight of what he didn’t even cause and couldn’t stop.
He was the one who made the Ragtime breaker possible (although Neko made it. He didn’t have to bring that peace of Greyon back but he did because he was thinking of others)
He was the one who went and found the Sparda and woke Dante up.
He was the one who encouraged Nero throughout the game and told him “We cannot hope to do this without you” because he saw what Nero could become and not who he was.
He was the one who never said an unkind word to a single person in the whole game.
He was the one who saw the faults in his past and worked to fix them.
He was the one who started to literally fall apart and kept going.
He was the one who knew he was dying and tried not to burden others, even though he should have.
He was the one who was sent to his own personal hell and overcame it only to help the others who, for the most part, didn’t pay him any mind.
He was the one who, at the first sight of his allies he had been separated from, despite his own condition, actually sighed in relief and said “Oh... They're okay...”
He’s the one who, even when he couldn’t fight, still tried to help Nero the best he could.
He was the only one who made this whole journey knowing from the start that he wasn’t coming back... but he went anyway.
He was the one who gave his life to give Vergil a second change even though Vergil left him to die on the wayside and he held no malice in his heart toward him while he did it.
He was the one who his familiars cared so much for that they died defending Vergil instead of choosing to simply fade away because they didn’t want to cause any more suffering.
He was the one who did everything that was hard and nothing that was easy, all for the sake of the nameless innocents that he would never meet and who would never know to thank him for his actions and the people who didn’t even seem to like him all that much (the majority of them. Neko and Nero get a pass)
He was the one who put everyone before himself.
He’s the one who, although in constant pain, kept a smile on his face and brought joy to so many people that played him.
And he didn’t have to do any of it. He did it because he knew in his hear that it was the right thing to do. V might physically be the weakest person in the group, but his willpower, grace, determination, selflessness, and purity of heart are the most powerful thing in the game. That power that Vergil had been looking for was never missing. V had it all along.
V might have been created by Vergil, but he was the person that he was because of his own actions. He made his own decisions. Being human doesn’t make you a hero, being a good person does. Caring about other people does. Thinking about other people does. Overcoming countless obstacles for the sake of those around you does. Being willing to die for people you’ve never even met does. Those are qualities that Vergil will never possess, no matter how much I love him. That is his legacy.
And you know why that is? It’s simple.
#VIsHisOwnCharacter
Pic from @lotherings-rose