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This article is about The generic term for demonic weapons. You may be looking for Nero's demonic right arm in Devil May Cry 4.
DMC5 Devil Sword Sparda

Sparda sword - one of the main Devil Arms in the DMC series.

Devil Arms (魔具, Magu?) are demonic, variably sentient weapons that are commonly the manifestation of a defeated Demon's soul or power. In the Devil May Cry series, Devil Arms are considered to be the characters' most powerful weapons. When wielded, Devil Arms often convey their power to the wielder, provided they have been subdued first.

Description[]

The process in which a Devil Arm is created was mentioned by Lucia in Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare. According to Matier there are two ways for Devil Arms to be created. A demon will turn into a weapon of overwhelming power if it has been defeated and becomes submissive, or a demon will change into a weapon if there is a strong emotional bond present.

In the same chapter, Balrog has recognized Dante's strength and is turned into a Devil Arm. Balrog then explained that by traveling with Dante, he will get stronger and after getting powerful enough, he'll challenge Dante in a duel yet again.

It's also stated in Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare that the creator of the first Devil Arm was named Machiavelli. He made Artemis, the armor for Nelo Angelo, and the prototype Angelos.

The "rules" which Devil Arms operate under differ from game to game. In Devil May Cry, Devil Arms are found already formed into weapons, and the process of subduing them requires Dante to survive the weapon's attempt to kill him. The powerful demons that Dante encounters do not form other Devil Arms when they are defeated.

In Devil May Cry 3, Dante encounters creatures in their demon form, and has to defeat them in combat for them to agree to assist him in recognition of his power. The resulting Devil Arm's capabilities reflect the powers and abilities of the demon it was created from. Even within the game there are exceptions to this: Agni & Rudra are already swords before Dante acquires them, while Beowulf expresses no desire to assist either Dante or Vergil when he is defeated. Only certain demons are depicted as able to form into Devil Arms: Gigapede, Geryon, Leviathan and Doppelganger instead grant Dante either nothing at all or a new Style.

In Devil May Cry 4, none of the powerful demons encountered by the two protagonists turn into Devil Arms, though when they are faced by Nero most drop magical items that grant additional capabilities to his Devil Bringer when it absorbs them. The Devil Arms acquired by Dante are instead a collection assembled by the Order of the Sword prior to the events of the game itself. None of the descriptions for Devil Arms in this game mention them previously being demons, and Devil May Cry 5 states that Gilgamesh instead gains its capabilities from the demonic metal it is made from.

In Devil May Cry 5 only Dante acquires new Devil Arms from powerful demons, while those encountered by the other two characters do not transform into additional weapons. The game also features a Devil Arm created by a human, Dr. Faust. In a similar manner to the dropped items in Devil May Cry 4, some of the powerful demons faced by the other two characters do leave magical shards with demonic power following their defeat, which Nico uses to create new Devil Breakers for Nero.

It is also shown that a demon or half-demon can manifest their own power as a Devil Arm while they are still alive, as Sparda did with his three swords and Dante creating Devil Sword Dante.

Devil Arms are incredibly hard to break. Yamato's blade is shattered in Vergil's fight with Mundus, while a punch from Urizen destroys Rebellion's blade during the events of Devil May Cry 5. If broken, the Devil Arm's fragments will retain their power: Yamato's shards retained the ability to cut rifts between the human and demon world, while the hilt of Rebellion still possessed the power to unite human with demon. However, a Devil Arm can be broken into small enough pieces that it is impossible to use, such as when Dante broke Cerberus and a Yamato shard into granular sized particles.

Although Devil Arms are primarily used as weapons, they are also shown to be used for other purposes. Yamato was used by the Dark Knight Sparda to seal the true Hell Gate and acted its key and power source. Sparda also used his beloved sword to strengthen Temen-Ni-Gru's seal. Agnus used several other Devil Arms to power his imitations of that Hell Gate.[1]

Story[]

Devil May Cry 3[]

At the start, Dante wields only Rebellion, the keepsake from his father. He eventually acquires new Devil Arms by defeating the demons guarding the Temen-ni-gru: Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, and Nevan. Vergil, on the other hand, gets only two other Devil Arms aside from Yamato: Beowulf, and Force Edge. After the second boss battle against Vergil, Vergil loses Beowulf and Dante acquires it for his own use.

Each Devil Arm not only grants the twins new powers and abilities, but also seems to exert some influence over their Devil Triggers: Dante's physical shape in Devil Trigger form changes depending on the Devil Arm he has equipped; while Vergil's form does not change that much, Yamato's scabbard changes to a green, scaly carapace reminiscent of the scales that cover Vergil's coat and body, and equipping Beowulf covers his chest in a glowing cuirass that somewhat resembles a ribcage.

Artemis is referred to as "a gun of the demon world",[2] and is established to also be a Devil Arm in materials associated with Devil May Cry 5.

Devil May Cry[]

During Dante's journey to Mallet Island, Force Edge starts out in a dormant state with no special capabilities: even when transformed into Sparda, it does not grant Dante its full power until the Devil Hunter faces Mundus. In the sword's fully awakened state, Dante gains the power to transform into his father's demon form.

Dante comes across two other Devil Arms during his journey: the sword Alastor, which contains the essence of a demon of lightning, and the gauntlets called Ifrit, which have the power of a mighty fire demon. Both weapons attempt to kill Dante, only to be subdued by him. When Dante invokes the power of these weapons he transforms into the demons themselves rather than his own devil form.

Nightmare-β also fits the description of a Devil Arm, though it is never directly referred to as such.

In the non-canonical Legendary Dark Knight mode, the Dark Knight Sparda wields the Devil Arm Yamato as his default weapon.

Devil May Cry CD Drama Vol 1[]

The events of the CD drama mention the creator of the first Devil Arm, Machiavelli, while two of his creations are also featured. One of these Devil Arms attempts to fuse itself to Dante's former agent, Enzo Ferino, forcing Dante to sever his hand to save him from it.

Enzo would go on to open his own type of pawn shop pertaining specifically to Devil Arms, of which many of the ones Dante procured over the events of the first and third game were given to Enzo as collateral to make up for all the money Dante had borrowed from him, among them the Alastor, the Ifrit, and the Cerberus, while Dante having sold the Agni & Rudra to Enzo due to their constant chattering annoying him.

Another Machiavelli created Devil Arm called Titania seemingly possesses Lady at Enzo's shop, forcing her to attack Dante, who made Enzo call off his debt so he could use his old weapons to destroy the Titania controlling Lady, though this was in fact a ruse so Dante could use these Devil Arms as a lure for demon that was collecting Devil Arms.

Once the Devil Arm collecting demon was killed, Dante returned the Devil Arms to Enzo to once more act as collateral.

Devil May Cry 2[]

No weapon in Devil May Cry 2 is actually referred to as a Devil Arm: the category of melee weapons are just referred to as "Swords." Rebellion is established as a Devil Arm in Devil May Cry 3, while Vendetta and Merciless are never stated to be anything other than normal swords.

Devil May Cry 4[]

Before the start of the game, the Order of the Sword collected several Devil Arms (Gilgamesh, Lucifer and Pandora) and used them to power several Hell Gates and keep them open. Only a few strong demons are able to use these Hell Gates to enter the human world, and when they are defeated, they do not relinquish their souls as Devil Arms. Instead, Dante takes possession of separate, already quiescent Devil Arms being used to hold the gates open.

Devil Arms can be broken, but fixing them is depicted as a feat of incredible power. Agnus was unable to restore Yamato no matter what he did, despite being an expert alchemist, but the sword is easily fixed by Nero when he awakens his Devil Trigger.

Devil May Cry 5[]

Dante begins the game with two Devil Arms, his sword Rebellion and the gauntlets/greaves set Balrog. Trish also wields the Devil Sword Sparda during the mission to confront Urizen. When Rebellion is destroyed during his battle with Urizen, Trish throws Sparda to Dante, but he is still defeated and left in a comatose state for a month, Sparda impaled on a nearby wall, the sword concealing Dante's presence by drawing demons to itself instead. Unseen but revealed in the prequel novel, Trish had taken the Artemis along with her to use against Urizen, which the Demon King later grafted onto Lady to form a new demon to serve him.

After awakening, Dante wields Sparda in place of his destroyed Rebellion and uses it to defeat Cavaliere Angelo, with the demonic knight's armor fusing with two halves of a ruined motorcycle to create the Cavaliere Devil Arm, which Dante uses as a weapon and means of transport. Upon absorbing Rebellion's broken hilt and Sparda into himself to unlock his Sin Devil Trigger, Dante forms a new Devil Arm by fusing both together, Devil Sword Dante, which he uses as his main weapon from then on.

Dante receives a hat Devil Arm called Dr. Faust from Nico, who created it using her father Agnus' notes, and battles the alpha of the Cerberus pack, King Cerberus, defeating the demon and receiving a new version of the nunchaku he previously wielded, this one having access to three forms with their own elemental powers. The weapon defaults to an ice nunchaku, but can also transform into a fire bō staff, and lightning sansetsukon.

Nero previously held Yamato in his Devil Bringer, but had the arm torn from him by a mysterious stranger, who turned it back into Yamato. The demon king Urizen uses Yamato in the form of a red crystal of demonic power, from which he conjures his barrier. When V reunites with Urizen to reform Vergil, the elder son of Sparda continues to wield Yamato as his main weapon once again.

DmC: Devil May Cry[]

Dante has only one melee weapon, the Rebellion, but it is capable of shapeshifting into multiple angelic and demonic weapons: the Ophion, Arbiter, Osiris, Eryx, and Aquila. The Arbiter and Osiris forms are awakened when Dante investigates the portraits of his father and mother while in the Limbo-version of his family's old mansion, while the Eryx and Aquila forms are awakened after Dante slays the demon lords Succubus and Bob Barbas.

Trivia[]

Storage of weapons are somewhat of a mystery in the series. Some Devil Arms have shown the ability to materialize onto the user's body:

  • Beowulf formed on Vergil's arms and legs in a flash of light.
  • Artemis materialized onto Trish's arm during her confrontation with Urizen.
    • Ironically enough, both Artemis and Beowulf will always appear on Dante's in-game character model if they occupy a weapon slot in Devil May Cry 3.
  • In-game, Yamato disappears in a puff of smoke when using Dante's Dark Slayer style.
  • Devil Sword Dante can materialize Dante's hand through a flame. He even plays with this newfound ability as a Taunt, noting that it should "make things easier."

Most Devil Arms appear and disappear between cutscenes and even shots without explanation:

  • Dante once reached behind his back and pulled Cerberus seemingly out of nowhere.
  • Force Edge, Alastor, and Rebellion inexplicably disappear and reappear on Dante's person in numerous cutscenes.
    • Despite Rebellion vanishing and returning in cutscenes, it doesn't have the ability to materialize as in the anime, Dante typically has to carry it in a guitar case or call it directly to his hand.

See also[]

References[]

  1. Devil May Cry 4, Dialogue: Nero: "Summoning, so it was you... who made the gate!" Agnus: "Yes, yes, the Hellgate. I created it merely as a reference in substitution for the real gate. But after utilizing an extremely powerful devil's arm... It proved sufficient."
  2. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Guns File — Artemis: "A gun of the demon world that discharges arrows concentrated with demon energy."
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