Berial

Berial
Name data
Katakana	ベリアル
Rōmaji	Beriaru
Personal data
Species	Demon
Status	Deceased

"Futile pest, you will suffer the wrath of Berial! I, the conqueror of the Fire Hell!"

―Berial to Nero

Berial is a boss encountered in Devil May Cry 4. He is a massive leonid centaur demon hailing from a particularly cruel and barbaric circle of the Demon World known as the Fire Hell. He was also Mundus' lone successor as the ruler of the Underworld after the latter's defeat by Dante. Nero fights Berial in Mission 2: La Porte De L'Enfer, and Dante faces him in Mission 16: Inferno. Berial is also fought at level 20 of the Bloody Palace.

Appearance

Berial has the lower body of a large bull, the legs and feet of a lizard or dragon, the upper body of a human, and a lion-like face, topped with vicious horns, and he towers above the single-story houses in the battlefield. His body is black, like cooled lava, with large, wing-like jets of flame sprouting from his humanoid shoulders and more flames cascading off his tail. When his flames are extinguished, these fires disappear and the creases in Berial's body take on more of a smouldering orange glow. In addition to his claws, Berial fights with a massive flaming sword, similar in appearance to a Zweihander, but his great size and strength allows him to wield it with a single hand. His attacks are slow, but powerful and with great reach; two aspects which no doubt helped him to conquer the Fire Hell. Out of all the demons of the Demon World, Berial is one of the few to have had an honor code.

Story

Berial escapes in a form of flames.

Berial attacks Nero in the Ferrum Hills, a deserted mining camp. He claims to have visited the human world two-thousand years ago, and never met any human like Nero except for "him", possibly indicating The Dark Knight Sparda. After his defeat, he retreats from Nero to the demonic realm, but later returns to the Human World after Agnus opens the True Hellgate.

The next time he is seen, he is looking at the distant Savior in the sky and commenting on Sanctus's ridiculous arrogance. He doesn't notice Dante sitting on his tail until the Devil Hunter voices his agreement. After Berial shakes him off, he easily recognizes Dante as the infamous Son of Sparda, then claims that he will avenge his demonic compatriots slain by Dante. Though he is bested in battle, he refuses to retreat again, and launches a kamikaze attack which Dante repels. After Berial is defeated, Dante takes the Lucifer Devil Arm and destroys the Hell Gate from which Berial emerged.

Strategy

Main articles: Mission 02 and Mission 16

Devil Trigger (DMD)

Berial can enter a Devil Trigger state in Dante Must Die when his life bar is less than 3 segments. While in his Devil Trigger state, Berial's flames become harder to remove, growing larger and turning purple-blue. In this state, Berial earns increased defense and durability. His attacks also become faster and more ferocious. Some of his moves also get stronger in this state, with a longer Bull Rush (known as Kamikazee) ability and becoming able to generate more Fire Geysers.

Powers & Abilities

Berial is a higher-level demon and is considered a master when it comes to fire. With his large lion-like body, he is granted even stronger attacks and higher endurance than smaller fire demons. He also wields a large sword that creates an explosion upon impact.

Berial can also generate a massive fire explosion when his protection is down, restoring all his fire. Also, he himself can turn into flames and fly with great speed, as seen in his escape to his Hell Gate.

Development

The Devil May Cry 4 artbook, "Devil's Material Collection", displays several concept sketches of Berial, one of which depicts him as a bipedal creature and another one as a creature comprised of Hellfire, inhabiting an armor, and show that he can detach and launch his head in an attack, similar to the Basilisk.

Background

Belial is the name from which "Berial" likely was drawn. The term "Belial" is used in the Torah of the Hebrew Bible to denote idolaters; in the New Testament, to refer to a demon, most probably Satan; and in the apocryphal text, The Ascension of Isaiah, to refer to an angel of lawlessness and "ruler of this world." The Dead Sea Scrolls from the caves at Qumran and War Scroll, moreover, contrast Belial with God, and allude to him as quite analogous to Satan. Finally, the epic poet John Milton further describes Belial as a paragon of wickedness. Belial is often associated with rebellion, as the Fragments suggest that anyone who is ruled by the spirits of Belial and speaks of rebellion should be condemned as a necromancer or wizard.